indigence
/ˈɪndɪd͡ʒəns/noun
indigence is spelled I-N-D-I-G-E-N-C-E: 9 letters. It appears about once in every 27 million words in written English, the 157,761st most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, indigence means “Extreme poverty or destitution” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of indigence is indigences.
How many letters and syllables are in indigence?
| Letters | 9: I-N-D-I-G-E-N-C-E |
|---|---|
| In writing | about once in every 27 million words; the 157,761st most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How common is indigence?
Indigence appears about once in every 27 million words in written English, the 157,761st most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce indigence?
- /ˈɪndɪd͡ʒəns/
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-us-indigence.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of indigence
- indigences plural
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does indigence mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
Extreme poverty or destitution.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Indigence in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense poverty:
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | indigence |
| Portuguese | indigência |
| Spanish | indigencia, inopia |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does indigence come from?
From Middle English indigence, late 14th century, from Old French indigence (13th century), from Latin indigentia, from indigentem, form of indigēre (“to need”), from indu (“in, within”) + egēre (“be in need, want”). Only relation to antonym affluence is common Latinate suffix + -ence.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).