Impoverish
/ɪmˈpɑːvərɪʃ/noun
To make someone poor or poorer.
Did you know?Impoverish comes from a French formation built on Latin pauper, “poor,” the same root behind words like pauper and poverty, so the word itself carries the ancient idea of reduced power and diminished means.
Etymological Timeline
Latin
Latin
pauper
“poor; having little”
Old French
Old French
empovrir
“to make poor”
Middle English
English
impoverisshen
“to make poor, reduce to poverty”
16th Century
English
impoverish
“to make poor or destitute”
Modern English
English
impoverish
“to reduce someone or something to poverty or weakness”
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