impoverish

English

Etymology

From Old French empoverir (modern French appauvrir), from em- + povre, from Latin pauper (“poor”).

Verb

impoverish (third-person singular simple present impoverishes, present participle impoverishing, simple past and past participle impoverished)

1. (transitive) Make poor.
2. (transitive) Weaken in quality; deprive of some strength or richness.

   That exuberant crop quickly impoverishes any fertile soil

3. (intransitive) Become poor.

Derived terms

• impoverisher
• impoverishment

Synonyms

• ruin

Antonyms

• enrich

Translations

transitive: make poor

Croatian: osiromašiti (hr) Dutch: verarmen (nl) French: appauvrir (fr) German: arm machen (de) Interlingua: impovrir Italian: immiserire (it)

Korean: 가난하게 하다 (ko) Polish: zubożyć (pl) Romanian: sărăci (ro), pauperiza (ro) Spanish: empobrecer (es) Turkish: yoksullaştırmak (tr), fakirleştirmek (tr), verimsizleştirmek (tr), güçsüzleştirmek (tr)

transitive: deprive of some strength or richness

Dutch: verzwakken (nl), verarmen (nl) Interlingua: impovrir

Korean: 약화시키다 (ko)

intransitive: become poor

Dutch: verarmen (nl) German: verarmen (de) Greek: φτωχαίνω (el) (ftokhéno)

Hungarian: elszegényedik (hu) Italian: immiserirsi (it) Korean: 가난해지다 (ko)

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables, removing any numbers. Numbers do not necessarily match those in definitions. See instructions at Help:How to check translations.

Translations to be checked

French: appauvrir, devenir pauvre

External links

• impoverish in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913
• impoverish in The Century Dictionary, The Century Co., New York, 1911
• impoverish at OneLook Dictionary Search