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"poverty" in seven languages

Meaningpoverty

Spanish

pobreza

/poˈbɾeθa/

fem.other source · pobre (← Latin PAUPEREM 'poor') + suffix -eza

French

pauvreté

/povʁəte/

fem.inherited

Italian

povertà

/poverˈta/

fem.inherited

Portuguese

pobreza

/poˈbɾezɐ/

fem.other source · pobre (← Latin PAUPEREM 'poor') + suffix -eza

Romanian

sărăcie

/sərəˈtʃie/

fem.other source · sărac 'poor' (of disputed origin) + suffix -ie

Catalan

pobresa

/puˈbɾɛzə/

fem.other source · pobre (← Latin PAUPEREM 'poor') + suffix -esa

English

poverty

/ˈpɑvɚti/

from Latin/French · Old French poverte, from Latin PAUPERTĀTEM

English → ItalianpovertypovertàCognateSame source — inherited, learned or borrowed. You can recognize it.What English and Italian share

The Latin ancestor

PAUPERTĀTEM‘poverty’

All six sisters descend from it, unless marked otherwise below.

The story

French and Italian kept the Latin abstract noun (-TĀTEM → -té, -tà); Spanish made a fresh one from pobre with -eza, like riqueza 'wealth'. AU became o everywhere, though French still spells it au.

English relatives: poor, pauper, impoverish

Sound laws at work

AU becomes o-TĀTEM: -dad, -té, -tà

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In a sentence

  • esMillones de personas viven en la pobreza.
  • frDes millions de personnes vivent dans la pauvreté.
  • itMilioni di persone vivono in povertà.
  • ptMilhões de pessoas vivem na pobreza.
  • roMilioane de oameni trăiesc în sărăcie.
  • caMilions de persones viuen en la pobresa.
  • enMillions of people live in poverty.

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