impoverish

C2+ Topic:Actions & Processes

US /ɪmˈpɑvɚɪʃ/ UK /ɪmˈpɒvərɪʃ/ See IPA manual

Meanings

1

verb
to make poor, or to deprive of strength or richness

Decades of war had impoverished the once-prosperous region.

Verb forms

Verb forms are not available for this word yet.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

1 verb · to make poor, or to deprive... bankrupt ruin beggar deplete exhaust drain weaken

Opposites

enrich enhance

Word family

Forms impoverishesimpoverishingimpoverishment

Derived forms impoverishmentimpoverishedimpoverisher

Related forms poor poverty

Etymology

From Old French empoverir, empovrir ('to make poor'), from en- ('in, make') + povre ('poor'), from Latin pauper ('poor').

empoverir Old French pauper Latin

View etymology graph ->

Topics

Actions & Processes Word Formation & Derivatives

External links

# impoverish

**Type:** Word
**Level:** C2+
**Part of speech:** verb
**IPA (US):** /ɪmˈpɑvɚɪʃ/
**IPA (UK):** /ɪmˈpɒvərɪʃ/

## Meanings
1. to make poor, or to deprive of strength or richness

## Examples
- Decades of war had impoverished the once-prosperous region.

## Synonyms
- bankrupt
- ruin
- beggar
- deplete
- exhaust
- drain
- weaken

## Antonyms
- enrich
- enhance

## Derived Forms
- impoverishment
- impoverished
- impoverisher

## Related Forms
- poor
- poverty

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: empoverir
- Root: pauper

## Etymology
From Old French empoverir, empovrir ('to make poor'), from en- ('in, make') + povre ('poor'), from Latin pauper ('poor').

## AI Etymology
Impoverish comes from Old French empoverir, empovrir ('to make poor'), from en- ('in, make') + povre ('poor'), from Latin pauper ('poor'). The etymological trail includes Old French empoverir and Latin pauper. As a verb, impoverish means to make poor, or to deprive of strength or richness. The same family is visible in derived forms such as impoverishment, impoverished, and impoverisher and related forms such as poor and poverty. Morphologically, the word is built from the elements named in its history, so the modern form preserves a visible compound, prefix, or suffix structure.

## Topics
- Actions & Processes
- Word Formation & Derivatives

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