LATIN DICTIONARYLexicon Latīnum
noun · femininefirst declension

pēnūria

pēnūria f (genitive pēnūriae)
Classical[peːˈnuː.ri.a]Ecclesiastical[peˈnuː.ri.a]

Meaning

  1. want, need, scarcity
    […] at vērō puellae iūniōris tam praecipua, tam praeclāra pulchritūdō nec exprimī ac ne sufficienter quidem laudārī sermōnis hūmānī pēnūriā poterat.[…] but the beauty of the youngest was so marvellous and dazzling that it could neither be expressed nor sufficiently praised by the paucity of human speech.c. 125 CE – 180 CE, Apuleius, Metamorphoses (Apuleius) 4.28

Latīnē defined in Latin in our graded readers

Declension

declension
formsingularplural
nominativepēnūriapēnūriae
genitivepēnūriaepēnūriārum
dativepēnūriaepēnūriīs
accusativepēnūriampēnūriās
ablativepēnūriāpēnūriīs
vocativepēnūriapēnūriae

pēnūrĭa or paenūrĭa, ae, f. Gr. πένομαι, to toil; πένης, poor; cf. σπάνις, πεῖνα,
I. want, need, scarcity of any thing (class.; syn.: inopia, egestas).
I. Lit., esp. of want of the necessaries of life; constr. with or (less freq.) without a gen.: cibi, Lucr. 5, 1007: victūs, Hor. S. 1, 1, 98: edendi, Verg. A. 7, 113: aquarum, Sall. J. 17, 5: rerum necessariarum, id. ib. 23, 2: frumenti, Liv. 4, 25. —Absol.: neque enim est umquam penuria parvi, he is never in want who requires but little, Lucr. 5, 1119: penuriam temporum sustinere, to supply their temporary wants, Col. 9, 14, 17: in penuriā, in time of scarcity, Plin. 18, 13, 34, § 130: afflixit te penuriā, Vulg. Deut. 8, 3; 28, 48.—Of want of other things: civium, Ter. Ad. 3, 3, 88: magna sapientium civium bonorumque penuria, Cic. Brut. 1, 2: cujus generis (amicorum) est magna penuria, id. Lael. 17, 62: liberorum, Sall. J. 22, 2: mulierum, Liv. 1, 9: agri, vectigalium, pecuniae, Cic. Inv. 2, 39, 115: argenti, Liv. 23, 21: arborum, Col. 7, 9, 7.—
II. Trop.: consilii, Plin. 8, 6, 6, § 17: vivae vocis, Gell. 14, 2, 1.

Origins

Perhaps related to paene (“almost”).

Descendants
  • Englishpenury
  • Frenchpénurie
  • Italianpenuria
  • Portuguesepenúria
  • Romanianpenurie
  • Spanishpenuria
  • Sicilianpinùria

Quick answers

What does pēnūria mean in Latin?
pēnūria, a noun, means “want, need, scarcity”.
What is the genitive of pēnūria?
The genitive singular is pēnūriae. pēnūria is feminine, first declension.
How do you pronounce pēnūria?
In classical Latin, [peːˈnuː.ri.a]; in ecclesiastical (church) Latin, [peˈnuː.ri.a].