dearth: M-W's Word of the Day

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The Word of the Day for July 17 is:

dearth \DERTH\ noun
1 : scarcity that makes dear; specifically : famine
*2 : an inadequate supply : lack

Example sentence:
Teri had forgotten to bring a book, and the dearth of reading material in her uncle's house had her visiting the town library the first morning of her stay.

Did you know?
The facts about the history of the word "dearth" are quite simple: the word derives from the Middle English form "derthe," which has the same meaning as our modern term. That Middle English form is assumed to have developed from an Old English form that was probably spelled "dierth" and was related to "deore," the Old English form that gave us the word "dear." ("Dear" also once meant "scarce," but that sense of the word is now obsolete.) Some form of "dearth" has been used to describe things that are in short supply since at least the 13th century, when it often referred to a shortage of food.

*Indicates the sense illustrated in the example sentence.

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