impoverish

English

Etymology

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

Verb

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

(transitive) To make poor.
(transitive) To weaken in quality; to deprive of some strength or richness.
That exuberant crop quickly impoverishes any fertile soil.
(intransitive) To become poor.

Synonyms

ruin
(weaken, deprive): deplete

Antonyms

enrich

Derived terms

impoverisher
impoverishment

Translations

to make poor

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
Polish: zubożyć
Portuguese: empobrecer (pt)
Romanian: sărăci (ro), pauperiza (ro)
Russian: обеднять (ru) (obednjatʹ)
Serbo-Croatian: osiromašiti (sh)
Spanish: empobrecer (es)
Turkish: yoksullaştırmak (tr), fakirleştirmek (tr), verimsizleştirmek, güçsüzleştirmek

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)

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)
Portuguese: empobrecer (pt)
Russian: беднеть (ru) (bednetʹ), нищать (ru) (niščatʹ)