entry
poverty
/ˈpɒvəti/, /ˈpɑːvɚti/State of severe lack of money or resources
From Latin pauper (poor) + Latin suffix tas (noun-forming ending).
from Latin paupertatem (nominative paupertas ) "poverty,"
+1 more sourcefrom Old French poverte, povrete "poverty, misery, wretched condition" (Modern French pauvreté )
+1 more sourcefrom Old French poverte, povrete "poverty, misery, wretched condition" (Modern French pauvreté )
+1 more sourcefrom Latin paupertās
from Old French poverte, povrete "poverty, misery, wretched condition" (Modern French pauvreté )
+1 more sourcefrom Old French poverte, povrete "poverty, misery, wretched condition" (Modern French pauvreté )
+1 more sourceWord Ancestry
from Latin paupertatem (nominative paupertas ) "poverty,"
+1 more sourcefrom Old French poverte, povrete "poverty, misery, wretched condition" (Modern French pauvreté )
+1 more sourcefrom Old French poverte, povrete "poverty, misery, wretched condition" (Modern French pauvreté )
+1 more sourcefrom Latin paupertās
from Old French poverte, povrete "poverty, misery, wretched condition" (Modern French pauvreté )
+1 more sourcefrom Old French poverte, povrete "poverty, misery, wretched condition" (Modern French pauvreté )
+1 more sourceRoman scribes loved a good legal label, and pauper was one of their useful little words for someone with too little property to pay court fees. Then Latin glued that to the state-making suffix -tās and produced paupertās, a neat abstract noun that French later softened into poverte and English borrowed in the 1100s. That’s why poverty feels so much heavier than plain poor: one is a condition, the other a life trapped inside it. Victor Hugo was still playing with that force when he wrote about misery in *Les Misérables* in 1862, and by 1891 English had even invented the “poverty line” to draw the misery with a ruler. Funny thing: the same Latin root gives us pauper, poor, and even pauperism, so tomorrow you can hear poverty as not just lack of cash, but a whole family reunion of shortage.
The Story
Roman scribes loved a good legal label, and pauper was one of their useful little words for someone with too little property to pay court fees. Then Latin glued that to the state-making suffix -tās and produced paupertās, a neat abstract noun that French later softened into poverte and English borrowed in the 1100s. That’s why poverty feels so much heavier than plain poor: one is a condition, the other a life trapped inside it. Victor Hugo was still playing with that force when he wrote about misery in *Les Misérables* in 1862, and by 1891 English had even invented the “poverty line” to draw the misery with a ruler. Funny thing: the same Latin root gives us pauper, poor, and even pauperism, so tomorrow you can hear poverty as not just lack of cash, but a whole family reunion of shortage.
Kin & Kindred
From 'pauper'·poor; of small means
Derived Terms
English words from this root
From 'tas'·noun-forming ending; state or quality
Derived Terms
English words from this root
Sources
Etymonline
Free Dictionary
Urban Dictionary
Wikipedia