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pov·er·ty

(pŏvər-tē)

1. The state of being poor; lack of the means of providing material needs or comforts.

2. Deficiency in amount; scantiness: "the poverty of feeling that reduced her soul" (Scott Turow).

3. Unproductiveness; infertility: the poverty of the soil.

4. Renunciation made by a member of a religious order of the right to own property.

[Middle English poverte, from Old French, from Latin paupertās, from pauper, poor; see pau-¹ in the Appendix of Indo-European roots.]

Indo-European & Semitic Roots Appendices

Thousands of entries in the dictionary include etymologies that trace their origins back to reconstructed proto-languages. You can obtain more information about these forms in our online appendices:

Indo-European Roots

Semitic Roots

The Indo-European appendix covers nearly half of the Indo-European roots that have left their mark on English words. A more complete treatment of Indo-European roots and the English words derived from them is available in our Dictionary of Indo-European Roots.

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