Pauperize
/ˈpɔː.pə.raɪz/noun
To make someone poor or reduce them to poverty.
Did you know?Pauperize is built from the same Latin root as pauper, and that root likely meant “few-producing” or “small-feeding,” tying poverty to scarcity at the level of ancient wordcraft.
Etymological Timeline
Latin
Latin
pauper
“poor; lacking means”
Late Latin
Latin
pauperizare
“to make poor”
16th Century
English
pauperize
“to reduce to poverty; to impoverish”
Modern English
English
pauperize
“to make someone poor or dependent”
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