penuries

Noun

penury (usually uncountable, plural penuries)

1. (usually) Extreme need or want; destitution, poverty; (countable) an instance of this.
   • As he [Jesus] behelde⸝ he ſawe the ryche men⸝ howe they caſt in their offeringꝭ [offeringis] into the treſury. He ſawe alſo a certayne povre widdowe⸝ which caſt ĩ [in] thydre two mytes. And he ſaid: of a trueth I ſaye vnto you⸝ this povre widdowe hath putt in moare thẽ [then, i.e., than] they all....1526, [William Tyndale, transl.], The Newe Testamẽt […] (Tyndale Bible), [Worms, Germany: Peter Schöffer], →OCLC, The Gospell off S. Luke xxj:[1–4], folio cxj, recto
2. (countable, poetic, usually) Often followed by of: a lack of something; a dearth, a scarcity.
   • VVith theſe and many others as conſiderable, vvhich partly vvillingly, and partly in the penury of Books, forgettingly I paſſe, […]1650, J[ohn] H[all], “The Grounds of Monarchy. The First Part.”, in The Grounds & Reasons of Monarchy Considered. […], [S.l.]: [s.n.], →OCLC, page 52

   Synonyms:

   barrenness, insufficiency

3. (obsolete, usually) The quality of being miserly; miserliness, parsimoniousness, stinginess.
   • God ſometimes puniſhes one ſinne vvith another; pride vvith adultery, drunkenneſſe vvith murder, careleſeneſſe vvith irreligion, idleneſſe vvith vanity, penury vvith oppreſſion, irreligion vvith blaſphemy, and that vvith Atheiſme, and therefore it is no vvonder if he puniſhes a ſinner by a ſinner.1651, Jer[emy] Taylor, “[XXVIII Sermons Preached at Golden Grove; Being for the Summer Half-year, […].] Sermon X. The Faith and Patience of the Saints: Or The Righteous Cause Oppressed. Part II.”, in...