pauvreté

poverty

noun poh-vruh-TAY Rare

Origin: Latin paupertas, influenced by Old French povre (poor)

Usage Note

Pauvreté is feminine — la pauvreté. It is a formal or semi-formal word; the more colloquial phrase is être dans la misère ('to be in dire poverty'). The adjective pauvre (poor) is its root, and appauvrir means 'to impoverish'. The expression seuil de pauvreté ('poverty threshold/line') is common in social and political discourse.

Examples

"La pauvreté touche de nombreuses familles."

Natural Translation

Poverty affects many families.

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