🇵🇹Portuguese Source WordCode: PT

empobrecer

Pronunciation / Transliteration: empobrecer

🇬🇧 Direct English Meaning:
Impoverish/ɪmˈpɒv.ər.ɪʃ/
verbCEFR C1 (Advanced)Top #8500 frequency
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🇵🇹 Example Sentence in Portuguese:

"A falta de investimentos pode empobrecer a região."

Comprehensive Definitions & Senses

2 senses
As verb
  1. 1

    To make someone very poor.

    "The prolonged economic crisis threatened to impoverish thousands of working-class families."
  2. 2

    To exhaust the strength, richness, or quality of something.

    "Over-farming can severely impoverish the soil, leaving it devoid of essential nutrients."

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Antonyms & Contrasting Words (1)

Linguistic Origin & Historical Etymology

Derived from the Old French word 'empoverir', combining the prefix 'em-' (from Latin 'in-', meaning 'into' or to make) with 'pauvre' (poor, from Latin 'pauper'). It entered the English language in the late Middle English period around the 15th century, initially meaning to make poor, and later expanding metaphorically to describe the depletion of quality or vitality.

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