Emily Dickinson Lexicon

poverty, n. [OFr < L. pauper, poor.] (webplay: beauty, coat, comfortable, day, entitled, grace, indigence, life, little, man, mean, power, rich, sense, sight, sin, spirit, sterility, substance, thing, want, wealth, wholly, without).

1. Destitution; indigence; lack of possessions; absence of material goods.
2. Lack; absence; deficit; paucity; shortage.
3. Lack of spiritual riches; [fig.] inability to express beauty or emotion.
4. [Fig.] fault; flaw; imperfection; defect; frailty; shortcoming.
5. [Fig.] sorrow; disappointment.