🇫🇷French Source WordCode: FR

dépôt de mendicité

Pronunciation / Transliteration: de-po de mã-di-si-te

🇬🇧 Direct English Meaning:
Workhouse/ˈwɜːk.haʊs/
nounCEFR C1 (Advanced)Top #14500 frequency
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🇫🇷 Example Sentence in French:

"Les pauvres étaient souvent envoyés au dépôt de mendicité."

Comprehensive Definitions & Senses

2 senses
As noun
  1. 1

    A penal or charitable institution in former times where destitute people were lodged and compelled to work.

    "In Victorian England, many impoverished families feared being sent to the local workhouse."
  2. 2

    A place where people are made to work very hard under harsh conditions.

    "The small startup felt less like an office and more like a modern-day workhouse during crunch time."

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Antonyms & Contrasting Words (1)

Linguistic Origin & Historical Etymology

The word is a compound of the Old English 'weorc' (meaning labor, activity, or toil) and 'hūs' (meaning dwelling or building). Historically prominent in 17th to 19th-century Britain, it evolved to designate a public institution where destitute people were housed and given manual work in exchange for food and shelter.

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