"poor" in seven languages
Meaningpoor
Spanish
pobre
/ˈpobɾe/
inherited
French
pauvre
/povʁ/
inherited
Italian
povero
/ˈpɔvero/
inherited
Portuguese
pobre
/ˈpɔbɾi/
inherited
Romanian
sărac
/səˈrak/
other source · of uncertain origin
Catalan
pobre
/ˈpɔbɾə/
inherited
English
poor
/pʊɹ/
from Latin/French · Old French povre
English → ItalianpoorpoveroCognateSame source — inherited, learned or borrowed. You can recognize it.What English and Italian share
The Latin ancestor
PAUPEREM‘poor’
All six sisters descend from it, unless marked otherwise below.
The story
AU became o everywhere (French still spells au but says o), and the p between vowels softened to b or v. Before a noun all three can mean 'poor thing': pobre chico, pauvre type, povero ragazzo.
English relatives: pauper, poverty, impoverish
Sound laws at work
Learn it
In a sentence
- es¡Pobrecito!
- frLe pauvre !
- itPoverino!
- ptCoitado!
- roSăracul!
- caPobret!
- enPoor thing!