povero

Italian

Etymology

From Latin pauperem. Given that the expect native reflex would have been *popere, this form was likely among the early borrowings into Italian from Gallo-Italic.

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, (Please provide the book title or journal name):

     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

Neapolitan

Etymology

Borrowed from Italian povero.

Pronunciation

• (Naples) IPA^(key): [ˈpɔːvərə], (in sandhi) [-u]

Adjective

povero (feminine singular povera, plural povere)

1. poor

References

• AIS: Sprach- und Sachatlas Italiens und der Südschweiz [Linguistic and Ethnographic Atlas of Italy and Southern Switzerland] – map 735: “povero” – on navigais-web.pd.istc.cnr.it
• Ledgeway, Adam (2009) Grammatica diacronica del napoletano, Tübingen: Niemeyer, page 80