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American Dictionary of the English Language

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Privation


PRIVA'TION, noun [Latin privatio, from privo. See Private.]

1. The state of being deprived; particularly, deprivation or absence of what is necessary for comfort. He endures his privations with wonderful fortitude.

2. The act of removing something possessed; the removal or destruction of any thing or quality. The garrison was compelled by privation to surrender.

For what is this contagious sin of kind

But a privation of that grace within?

3. Absence, in general. Darkness is a privation of light.

4. The act of the mind in separating a thing from something appendant.

5. The act of degrading from rank or office.

[But in this sense, deprivation is now used. See Deprivation.]