austerity

English

Etymology

From (deprecated template usage) [etyl] Ancient Greek αὐστηρότης (austērótēs, “bitter, harsh”). See austere.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ɔˈstɛɹɪti/, enPR: ôstĕr′ǐtē

Noun

austerity (countable and uncountable, plural austerities)

1. Severity of manners or life; extreme rigor or strictness; harsh discipline.
2. Freedom from adornment; plainness; severe simplicity.
3. (economics) A policy of deficit-cutting, which by definition requires lower spending, higher taxes, or both.
   • 2012 April 23, Angelique Chrisafis, “François Hollande on top but far right scores record result in French election”, in the Guardian‎^[1]:

     He said France clearly wanted to "close one page and open another". He reiterated his opposition to austerity alone as the only way out of Europe's crisis: "My final duty, and I know I'm being watched from beyond our borders, is to put Europe back on the path of growth and employment."

4. (obsolete) Sourness and harshness to the taste.

Antonyms

• (severity of manners or life): comfort

Related terms

• austere
• austerely
• austeriate

Translations

severity of manners or life

• Bulgarian: строгост (bg) (strogost), суровост (bg) (surovost)
• Catalan: austeritat f
• Czech: přísnost f
• Danish: strænghed c
• Finnish: ankaruus (fi), karuus (fi)
• French: austérité (fr) f
• German: Einschränkung (de) f, Härte (de) f, Strenge (de) f, Austerität (de) f, Genügsamkeit (de) f
• Greek: αυστηρότητα (el) f (afstirótita)
• Icelandic: strangleiki m, harka (is) f
• Interlingue:
• Irish: déine
• Italian: austerità (it) f
• Latin: austēritās f
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: strenghet (no) m

• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Polish: surowość (pl)
• Portuguese: austeridade (pt) f
• Romanian: austeritate (ro) f
• Russian: стро́гость (ru) f (strógostʹ), суро́вость (ru) f (suróvostʹ)
• Scottish Gaelic: cruadal, teanntachd
• Serbo-Croatian: surovost (sh), oporost (sh)
• Spanish: austeridad (es) f
• Swedish: stränghet c
• Welsh: llymder

sourness and harshness to the taste

• Albanian: austerity
• Bulgarian: стипчивост (stipčivost)
• Danish: stramhed c
• French: austérité (fr) f
• Interlingue:
• Latin: austēritās f
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: stramhet m

• Serbo-Croatian: oporost (sh), oštrina (sh)

policy of deficit-cutting: reduce spending and/or raise taxes

• Catalan: austeritat f
• Czech: úspornost f, omezení (cs) n, utahování opasků n
• Dutch: bezuiniging (nl) f
• French: austérité (fr) f
• Greek: λιτότητα (el) f (litótita)
• Hungarian: megszorítás (hu)
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Icelandic: please add this translation if you can
• Interlingue:
• Italian: austerità (it) f
• Russian: сдерживающая фискальная политика f (sderživajuščaja fiskalʹnaja politika)
• Spanish: austeridad (es) f
• Swedish: åtstramning c, åtstramningspolitik c, svångremspolitik c

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

Translations to be checked

• French: austérité (fr) f
• Indonesian: talangan
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Polish: niedostatek (pl), prostota (pl), surowość (pl)

References

• “austerity”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.