poverty

Pronunciation

• IPA: UK /ˈpɒv.ə.ti/, US /ˈpɑː.vɚ.t̬i/^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English poverte, borrowed from Old French poverte, poverté,^[2][3][4] from Latin paupertās, from pauper “poor”,^[2][3][5] so that it is related to poor and pauper.^[2][3]

Earliest recorded meaning

Lack of money or goods, being poor: about 1175 in the OED, the late 12th century in Etymonline.^[6][2]

Semantic evolution

Deliberate poverty as a Christian practice is from the early 13th century.^[2] Poverty of spirit, humility, alluding to the Beatitudes, is from the 13th century.^[6][2] Figuratively, scantiness or dearth, it is from the mid-14th century (1388 in the OED),^[2][6] and inferiority in quality from 1387.^[6] The poor as a class are the poverty from 1433.^[6] Poverty-stricken is by 1778, poverty line from 1891, and poverty trap from 1966.^[2]

Timeline

• c. 1175 – being poor.^[6]
• early 13th century – voluntary poverty.^[2]
• 1388 – scarcity.^[6]
• 1778 – poverty-stricken.^[2]
• 1891 – poverty line.^[2]
• 1966 – poverty trap.^[2]

Modern meaning

Noun

1. The state of being very poor.
2. A lack or scarcity of something: poverty of imagination.
3. Poor quality, as of soil.
4. The giving up of the right to own property by a member of a religious order.

Word family

• antipoverty
• poverty-stricken
• poverty line
• poverty grass

Related words

• impoverish
• poor
• pauper

Usage notes

Etymonline notes that poverty is a stronger word than being poor, while want is stronger still, meaning a lack even of necessities.^[2]

References

1. ^ Jones, Daniel (2011), Cambridge English Pronouncing Dictionary, 18th ed., ed. Peter Roach, Jane Setter and John Esling, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
3. ^ a b c Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
4. ^ Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
5. ^ Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
6. ^ a b c d e f g Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press