impoverish

English

Etymology

From Middle English impoverishen, empoverishen, from Old French empoverir, from em- + povre, from Latin pauper (“poor”) (English poor).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ɪmˈpɒv(ə)ɹɪʃ/

• Audio (US):

  (file)

Verb

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

1. (transitive) To make poor.
2. (transitive) To weaken in quality; to deprive of some strength or richness.

   That exuberant crop quickly impoverishes any fertile soil.

3. (intransitive) To become poor.

Synonyms

• (to make poor): ruin; poor (rare)
• (to weaken or deprive): deplete

Antonyms

• enrich

Derived terms

• impoverisher
• impoverishment

Translations

to make poor

• Arabic: أَفْقَر (ʔafqar)
• Bulgarian: разорявам (bg) (razorjavam)
• Catalan: empobrir (ca)
• Dutch: verarmen (nl)
• Finnish: köyhdyttää (fi)
• French: appauvrir (fr)
• German: arm machen (de)
• Interlingua: impovrir
• Italian: immiserire
• Japanese: 貧しくする (ja) (mazushiku suru)
• Korean: 가난하게 하다 (gananhage hada)
• Latin: pauperō
• Latvian: nabadzināt
• Maori: whakapōhara
• Norwegian: utarme (no)
• Polish: zubożyć
• Portuguese: empobrecer (pt)
• Romanian: sărăci (ro), pauperiza (ro)
• Russian: обеднять (ru) (obednjatʹ)
• Serbo-Croatian: osiromašiti (sh)
• Spanish: empobrecer (es), depauperar (es)
• Turkish: yoksullaştırmak (tr), fakirleştirmek (tr), verimsizleştirmek, güçsüzleştirmek (tr)
• Ukrainian: збі́днювати impf (zbídnjuvaty), збідни́ти (uk) pf (zbidnýty)

to deprive of some strength or richness

• Dutch: verzwakken (nl), verarmen (nl)
• Finnish: köyhdyttää (fi)
• Interlingua: impovrir
• Korean: 약화시키다 (yakhwasikida)
• Latvian: nabadzināt
• Norman: dêgraîssi (Jersey)
• Ukrainian: збі́днювати impf (zbídnjuvaty), збідни́ти (uk) pf (zbidnýty)

to become poor

• Bulgarian: обеднявам (bg) (obednjavam)
• Dutch: verarmen (nl)
• Finnish: köyhtyä (fi)
• French: s’appauvrir (fr)
• German: verarmen (de)
• Greek: φτωχαίνω (el) (ftochaíno)
• Hungarian: elszegényedik (hu)
• Ido: povreskar (io)
• Italian: immiserirsi
• Korean: 가난해지다 (gananhaejida)
• Mon: ဝါတ် (mnw) (wa̤t)
• Portuguese: empobrecer (pt)
• Russian: беднеть (ru) (bednetʹ), нищать (ru) (niščatʹ)
• Turkish: yoksullaşmak (tr)

See also

• immiserate

Further reading

• “impoverish”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.
• “impoverish”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911, →OCLC.
• “impoverish”, in OneLook Dictionary Search.