- Obs. costliness; dearness
- scarcity of food
- any scarcity or lack
Origin of dearth
Middle English derth from dere: see dear and -th
There is a dearth of merchandise at this market.
Dearth is defined as a lack or small supply of something.
The convenience store with no healthy, fresh foods is an example of a dearth of produce.
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"dearth." YourDictionary, n.d. Web. 16 February 2019. <https://www.yourdictionary.com/Dearth>.
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dearth. (n.d.). Retrieved February 16th, 2019, from https://www.yourdictionary.com/Dearth
dearth
Webster's New World College Dictionary, Fifth Edition Copyright © 2014 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
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"dearth." YourDictionary, n.d. Web. 16 February 2019. <https://www.yourdictionary.com/Dearth>.
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dearth. (n.d.). Retrieved February 16th, 2019, from https://www.yourdictionary.com/Dearth
dearth
noun
- A scarce supply; a lack: “the dearth of uncensored, firsthand information about the war” ( Richard Zoglin )
- Shortage of food; famine.
Origin of dearth
Middle English derthe from Old English dēorthu costliness from dēore costly ; see dear 1.THE AMERICAN HERITAGE® DICTIONARY OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE, FIFTH EDITION by the Editors of the American Heritage Dictionaries. Copyright © 2016, 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
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MLA Style
"dearth." YourDictionary, n.d. Web. 16 February 2019. <https://www.yourdictionary.com/Dearth>.
APA Style
dearth. (n.d.). Retrieved February 16th, 2019, from https://www.yourdictionary.com/Dearth
Noun
(plural dearths)
- A period or condition when food is rare and hence expensive; famine.
- (by extension) Scarcity; a lack or short supply.
- 1660, Church of England, “In the time of dearth and famine.”, in The Book of Common Prayer, page 21:
- O God,heavenly Father, whose gift it is that the rain doth fall, the earth is fruitfull, beasts increase, and fishes do multiply: behold, we beseech thee, the afflictions of thy people, and grant that the scarcity and dearth (which we do now most justly suffer for our iniquitie) may through thy goodness be mercifully turned into cheapness and plenty…
- 1676, Thomas Comber, A Companion to the Temple: The litany, page 309:
- The property of Contraries is, that they become one anothers Cure, whereupon we who have suffered by scarcity and dearth, do pray to be relieved by their contraries, cheapness and plenty
- 1826, Robert Graham, “Corn and Currency”, in , edition Second, with additions:
- In Ireland, distress is greatest when provisions are cheapest; then we see famine without dearth; hunger amidst superabundance of provisions; farmers without a market; labourers without the means of purchase.
Origin
First attested at least as early as the late 1400s, and appearing in Tyndale’s Pentateuch (1530) as well as the Coverdale Bible (1535). From Middle English derþe, probably from Old English *dīerþ, *dīerþu, from Proto-Germanic *diuriþō (“costliness, preciousness, honour”), corresponding to dear + -th. Cognate with West Frisian djoerte (“love, dearness, value, worth”), Dutch duurte (“dearness; scarcity, dearth”), Icelandic dýrð (“honour, glory”).
English Wiktionary. Available under CC-BY-SA license.
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MLA Style
"dearth." YourDictionary, n.d. Web. 16 February 2019. <https://www.yourdictionary.com/Dearth>.
APA Style
dearth. (n.d.). Retrieved February 16th, 2019, from https://www.yourdictionary.com/Dearth
Sentence Examples
- The next danger was from the people, who were infuriated by the dearth of corn.
- Other prophets of the same age speak much of dearth and failure of crops, which in Palestine then as now were aggravated by bad government, and were far more serious to a small and isolated community than they could ever have been to the old kingdom.
- In certain countries (among them England) where there is a dearth of secular priests, Benedictines undertake parochial work.
- Henry prudently waited until dearth of provisions forced the enemy to divide into two the bands.
- Between 1831 and 1842 there were six seasons of dearth, approaching in some places to famine.
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