Etymograph

English

poverty

Poverty comes from Old French poverté, from Latin paupertās, from pauper ‘poor’, perhaps from Proto-Indo-European *peh₂w(o)p(o)rh₃o-.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*peh₂w(o)p(o)rh₃o-1‘getting little’uncertain
  2. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*paw(o)paro-1‘poor’uncertain
  3. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEpauper2‘poor’
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEpaupertās2‘the state of being poor’
  5. Old Frenchc. 842–1400poverté2‘poverty’
  6. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500poverte2‘poverty’
  7. Englishearliest quotation 1980poverty2

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, Latin pauper
  2. 2 Wiktionary, English poverty
  3. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1980, AA Book of British Villages, Drive Publications Ltd: “From there Prince Rupert, the Royalist general and nephew…”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*peh₂w(o)p(o)rh₃o-Wiktionary, Latin pauper‘getting little’uncertain
  2. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*paw(o)paro-Wiktionary, Latin pauper‘poor’uncertain
  3. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEpauperWiktionary, English poverty‘poor’
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEpaupertāsWiktionary, English poverty‘the state of being poor’
  5. Old Frenchc. 842–1400povertéWiktionary, English poverty‘poverty’
  6. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500poverteWiktionary, English poverty‘poverty’
  7. Englishearliest quotation 1980povertyWiktionary, English poverty. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1980, AA Book of British Villages, Drive Publications Ltd: “From there Prince Rupert, the Royalist general and nephew…”

Word family

English words that share an ancestor with poverty, grouped by the ancestor they share, most familiar first.

through Latin pauper ‘poor’

2 more relatives in the full family tree

No ads, ever.

Become a founding member, $29 onceI have a code

Explore everything descended from *peh₂w(o)p(o)rh₃o- →

No ads, ever. This is how the app stays alive.

Become a founding member, $29 onceWear this word, $32Support the app

Today it means

noun The quality or state of being poor; lack of money

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “poverty”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entry for Latin pauper. 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(o)p(o)rh₃o- / poverty