English
poor
Poor comes from Middle English povre, from Old French povre, from Latin pauper, ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *peh₂w- ‘few, small’.
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*peh₂w-1‘few, small’reconstructed
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEpauper1‘poor’
- Old Frenchc. 842–1400povre1
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500povre1
- Englishearliest quotation 1340poor1
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor
- 1 Wiktionary, English poor
- Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1340, Laurent du Bois, Ayenbite of Inwyt: “...me vint of ane king to huam a poure…”.
Lineage
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*peh₂w-Wiktionary, English poor‘few, small’reconstructed
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEpauperWiktionary, English poor‘poor’
- Old Frenchc. 842–1400povreWiktionary, English poor
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500povreWiktionary, English poor
- Englishearliest quotation 1340poorWiktionary, English poor. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1340, Laurent du Bois, Ayenbite of Inwyt: “...me vint of ane king to huam a poure…”
The story
Displanced native wantsome, Middle English unlede (“poor”, from Old English unlǣde), Middle English unweli, unwely (“poor, unwealthy”, from Old English un- + weliġ (‘well-to-do, prosperous, rich’))
Word family
English words that share an ancestor with poor, grouped by the ancestor they share, most familiar first.
through Proto-Indo-European *peh₂w- ‘few, small’
- few ← fewe ← fēaw ← *fau ← *fawaz
- fewer ← fewe ← fēaw ← *fau ← *fawaz
- pause ← pausa ← παῦσις ← παύω
- puppy ← *puppee ← poupée
- pupil ← pupille ← pupille ← pūpillus ← pūpulus
- puppet ← popet ← poupette ← pupa
- pose ← posen ← poser ← pausāre ← pausa
- pediatrics ← παῖς ← *pā́wits ← *péh₂wids
- pave ← paver ← *pavāre ← paviō
- filly ← fylja
- pedagogy ← pédagogie ← παιδαγωγία ← παιδαγωγός ← ᾰ̓γωγός
- menopausal ← menopause ← ménopause ← pausa ← παῦσις
38 more relatives in the full family tree
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Today it means
adj With no or few possessions or money, particularly in relation to contemporaries who do have them.
Sources
Sources: Wiktionary, “poor”. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.
Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *peh₂w- / poor