beggary
beg·gary
noun
1.
a solicitation for money or food (especially in the street by an apparently penniless person)
2.
a state of extreme poverty or destitution
- “their indigence appalled him”
- “a general state of need exists among the homeless”
Origin
From beggar + -y.
Related words
Broader terms
WordNet 2.1 (Princeton University). Wiktionary (CC BY-SA). WordNet 2.1 Copyright Princeton University. All rights reserved. Wiktionary content is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike Licence.