povero

povero

Italian

Etymology

From Latin pauper, pauperem, from Proto-Indo-European *peh₂w- (“few, small”). Possibly borrowed from a Gallo-Italic language, where Latin /-p-/ > /v/ is a regular change, unlike in Italian.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈpɔ.ve.ro/

• Audio

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɔvero
• Hyphenation: pò‧ve‧ro

Adjective

povero (feminine povera, masculine plural poveri, feminine plural povere, superlative poverissimo)

1. poor (with little or no possessions or money)

   Antonym: ricco

   • 1512, Niccolò Machiavelli, Lettera a Francesco Vettori:

     Nacqui povero, ed imparai prima a stentare che a godere.

     I was born poor and I learned how to live in hardship sooner than [I learned] how to enjoy.

2. poor (to be pitied)

Noun

povero m (plural poveri, feminine povera)

1. poor man, pauper
2. (in the plural) the poor, the needy, poor people

Derived terms

• in parole povere
• poveraccio
• poveramente
• poverello
• poveretto / poverino
• povertà
• poveruomo
• nullatenente

Further reading

• povero in Treccani.it – Vocabolario Treccani on line, Istituto dell'Enciclopedia Italiana
• Maiden, Martin. 1995. A linguistic history of Italian. London: Longman. Chapter 2, §7.2.