| source : web1913 | Indigence \In"di*gence\, n. [L. indigentia: cf. F. indigence. See {Indigent}.] The condition of being indigent; want of estate, or means of comfortable subsistence; penury; poverty; as, helpless, indigence. --Cowper. Syn: Poverty; penury; destitution; want; need; privation; lack. See {Poverty}. | source : wn | indigence n : a state of extreme poverty or destitution; "their indigence appalled him"; "a general state of need exists among the homeless" [syn: {need}, {penury}, {pauperism}]