Poverty-Line
/ˈpɒv.ə.ti laɪn/noun
A threshold of income below which a person or household is considered to be living in poverty.
Did you know?The modern phrase is a compound of two ordinary English words, but the deeper power is in how societies use language to draw an invisible line that decides who is “inside” or “outside” of economic safety.
Etymological Timeline
Old French
OF
poverté
“Poverty; destitution; lack of resources.”
Latin
Latin
paupertās
“Poverty; scarcity; meager condition.”
Proto-Indo-European
PIE
*pau-
“Few; small; little.”
Old English
OE
līn
“A line, cord, or thread.”
Modern English
English
poverty line
“A statistical threshold marking the level below which a person or household is considered poor.”
Explore more surprising origins