Homelessness

Definition of homeless

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) defines the term "homeless" or "homeless individual or homeless person" as -- (1) an individual who lacks a fixed, regular, and adequate nighttime residence; and (2) an individual who has a primary nighttime residence that is: A) supervised publicly or privately operated shelter designed to provide temporary living accommodations (including welfare hotels, congregate shelters, and transitional housing for the mentally ill); B) an institution that provides a temporary residence for individuals intended to be institutionalized; or C) a public or private place not designed for, or ordinarily used as, a regular sleeping accommodations for human beings.

Other names for homelessness

In different languages, the term for homelessness reveals the cultural and societal perception and classification of a homeless person:

Britain: "rough sleeper" (person who sleeps "in the rough" i.e. outdoors)
Spanish: "persona sin hogar", (person without a home) , "sin techo" o "sintecho" (person without roof above)
French: "sans domicile fixe" (SDF, without a fixed domicile)
German: "obdachlos" (without a shelter)
Italian: "senzatetto" (without a roof)
Portuguese: "sem-abrigo" (without a shelter) or "sem-teto" (without a roof)
Polish, Russian, Slovene: "bezdomny", "бездомный", or in more frequent use, "бомж", standing for without fixed place of living (без опрделенного место жительства), "brezdomec" respectively (without a house)

Source: Wikipedia