Definition
Having no money at all; extremely poor.
Etymology
Compound of 'penny' (Old English penig, from Germanic roots) and '-less' (Old English leas meaning 'without'). The compound emerged in the 1600s as a direct way to say someone lacked even a single penny.
Kelly Says
A penny was once the smallest unit of currency and represented the bare minimum—calling someone 'penniless' was like saying they didn't even have the tiniest coin, emphasizing absolute poverty in a way that stuck around for centuries.
Translations
CACatalà
sense diners
sen-sa di-ˈnɛrs
CSČeština
Pennant
ˈpɛn.ant
ELΕλληνικά
Pennant
ˈpɛn.ant
ESEspañol
sin dinero
sin di-ˈne-ro
FRFrançais
sans le sou
san le su
HUMagyar
Pennant
ˈpɛn.ant
IDBahasa Indonesia
miskin
mis-kin
ITItaliano
senza soldi
sen-za sol-ˈdi
JA日本語
お金がない
o-kane ga nai
MSBahasa Melayu
Pennant
ˈpɛn.ant
MYမြန်မာ
Pennant
ˈpɛn.ant
NLNederlands
zonder geld
zon-der ˈɣɛld
PLPolski
bez pieniędzy
bez pje-ˈnɛd͡zɪ
PTPortuguês
sem dinheiro
sem di-ˈne-iru
RORomână
Pennant
ˈpɛn.ant
RUРусский
бедный
ˈbʲɛd.nıy
SVSvenska
Pennant
ˈpɛn.ant
SWKiswahili
Pennant
ˈpɛn.ant
TEతెలుగు
Pennant
ˈpɛn.ant
TRTürkçe
yok parası
yok pa-ˈraːsi
UKУкраїнська
Pennant
ˈpɛn.ant
VITiếng Việt
nghèo
ngiːəʊ