Source : Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)

Pauperism \Pau"per*ism\, n. [Cf. F. paup['e]risme.]
   The state of being a pauper; the state of indigent persons
   requiring support from the community. --Whatly.

   Syn: Poverty; indigence; penury; want; need; destitution. See
        {Poverty}.

Source : WordNet®

pauperism
     n : a state of extreme poverty or destitution; "their indigence
         appalled him"; "a general state of need exists among the
         homeless" [syn: {indigence}, {need}, {penury}, {beggary},
          {pauperization}]