English
poverty
Poverty comes from Old French poverté, from Latin paupertās, from pauper ‘poor’, perhaps from Proto-Indo-European *peh₂w(o)p(o)rh₃o-.
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*peh₂w(o)p(o)rh₃o-‘getting little’uncertain
- Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*paw(o)paro-‘poor’uncertain
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEpauper‘poor’
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEpaupertās‘the state of being poor’
- Old Frenchc. 842–1400poverté‘poverty’
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500poverte‘poverty’
- Englishearliest quotation 1980poverty
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed
Lineage
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*peh₂w(o)p(o)rh₃o-‘getting little’uncertain
- Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*paw(o)paro-‘poor’uncertain
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEpauper‘poor’
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEpaupertās‘the state of being poor’
- Old Frenchc. 842–1400poverté‘poverty’
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500poverte‘poverty’
- Englishearliest quotation 1980poverty
Earliest quotation: 1980, AA Book of British Villages, Drive Publications Ltd: “From there Prince Rupert, the Royalist general and nephew…”
Linked words
through Latin pauper ‘poor’
Today it means
noun The quality or state of being poor; lack of money
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *peh₂w(o)p(o)rh₃o- / poverty