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privation

French, noun/pʁi.va.sjɔ̃/

privation is a French feminine noun meaning “deprivation” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The French Wiktionary (Wiktionnaire) defines it as “Perte, absence, manque d’un bien ou d’un avantage qu’on avait, ou qu’on devait ou qu’on pouvait avoir”.

What does privation mean in English?

noun

  1. 1

    femininedeprivation

  2. 2

    feminineshortage, deficiency

  3. 3

    femininedefect

Source: English Wiktionary, French section, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0).

How French dictionaries define it

noun: 1. Perte, absence, manque d’un bien ou d’un avantage qu’on avait, ou qu’on devait ou qu’on pouvait avoir. 2. Manque de beaucoup de choses nécessaires à la vie. 3. Action de se priver volontairement, de s’abstenir de quelque chose dont on pourrait jouir.

The definition in the French Wiktionary (Wiktionnaire), in French.

Source: French Wiktionary (Wiktionnaire), dump of September 1, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org.

Forms of privation

  • privations plural

Source: English Wiktionary and French Wiktionary (Wiktionnaire) (dumps of September 2, 2026 and September 1, 2026).

How do you pronounce privation?

  • /pʁi.va.sjɔ̃/
  • \pʁi.va.sjɔ̃\
  • [pʁi.va.sjɔ̃]

Sources: English Wiktionary, French Wiktionary (Wiktionnaire) (dumps of September 2, 2026 and September 1, 2026); recordings from Wikimedia Commons.

English words that translate to privation

Source: the translation tables of the English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026.

How common is privation in French?

privation appears 2.1 times per million words in written French.

Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).