The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:

Penury \Pen"u*ry\, n. [L. penuria; cf. Gr. ? hunger, ? poverty,
   need, ? one who works for his daily bread, a poor man, ? to
   work for one's daily bread, to be poor: cf. F. p['e]nurie.]
   1. Absence of resources; want; privation; indigence; extreme
      poverty; destitution. "A penury of military forces."
      --Bacon.
      [1913 Webster]

            They were exposed to hardship and penury. --Sprat.
      [1913 Webster]

            It arises in neither from penury of thought.
                                                  --Landor.
      [1913 Webster]

   2. Penuriousness; miserliness. [Obs.] --Jer. Taylor.
      [1913 Webster]

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006):

penury
    n 1: a state of extreme poverty or destitution; "their indigence
         appalled him"; "a general state of need exists among the
         homeless" [syn: indigence, need, penury, pauperism,
         pauperization]