What does pauper mean in Latin?

pauper, a adjective, means “poor”.

How do you pronounce pauper?

In classical Latin, [ˈpau̯.pɛr]; in ecclesiastical (church) Latin, [ˈpaːu̯.per].

Where does pauper come from?

Proto-Indo-European *peh₂w- → Proto-Indo-European *perh₃-? → Proto-Indo-European *peh₂w(o)p(o)rh₃o- → Proto-Italic *paw(o)paro-? → Latin pauper.

Which English words come from pauper?

English words that go back to Latin pauper include poor, pauper, impoverish, poverty and depauperate.

adjectivethird-declension one-termination adjective (non-i-stem)

pauper

pauper (genitive pauperis, comparative pauperior, superlative pauperrimus)

Classical[ˈpau̯.pɛr]Ecclesiastical[ˈpaːu̯.per]

№ 844 of the 1,000 commonest wordsMille Verba core vocabulary

Meaning

one terminationpoor
Illa vērō nōn est paupertās, sī laeta est; nōn quī parum habet, sed quī plūs cupit, pauper est.[Seneca has just quoted Epicurus regarding “cheerful” poverty:] But truly, it is not poverty if it is cheerful; it is not the one who has little, but the one who craves more, who is poor.c. 4 BCE – 65 CE, Seneca Minor, Epistulae Morales ad Lucilium 1.2.6

Latīnē defined in Latin in our graded readers

cui parvae opēs sunt.

pauper -eris — in Mille Verba, ch. Vīta et Mors

pauca habēns, egēns

pauper -eris — in Evangelium secundum Matthaeum, ch. 17

quī pecūniam nōn habet

pauper -eris (m) — in Evangelium secundum Matthaeum, ch. 4

poor

pauper — in Viri Romae Facillimi, ch. 7, 10, 12, 14, 19, 20, 22, 24 and Viri Romae Facillimi, ch. 1, 13, 15, 16, 17

Declension

singular
form	masculine	feminine	neuter
nominative	pauper pauperculus	pauper paupercula	pauper pauperculum
genitive	pauperis pauperculī	pauperis pauperae, pauperculae	pauperis pauperculī
dative	pauperī pauperculō, pauperō	pauperī pauperae, pauperculae	pauperī pauperculō, pauperō
accusative	pauperem pauperculum	pauperem pauperam, pauperculam	pauper pauperculum
ablative	paupere pauperculō, pauperō	paupere pauperculā	paupere pauperculō, pauperō
vocative	pauper paupercule	pauper paupercula	pauper pauperculum

plural
form	masculine	feminine	neuter
nominative	pauperēs pauperculī	pauperēs pauperae, pauperculae	paupera paupercula
genitive	pauperum pauperculōrum, pauperōrum	pauperum pauperārum, pauperculārum	pauperum pauperculōrum, pauperōrum
dative	pauperibus pauperculīs	pauperibus pauperculīs	pauperibus pauperculīs
accusative	pauperīs pauperēs, pauperculōs, pauperōs	pauperīs pauperēs, pauperās, pauperculās	paupera paupercula
ablative	pauperibus pauperculīs	pauperibus pauperculīs	pauperibus pauperculīs
vocative	pauperēs pauperculī	pauperēs pauperae, pauperculae	paupera paupercula

Phrases from Meissner's Latin Phrase-Book

aliquem ex paupere divitem facere: to raise a man from poverty to wealth.

pauper, pĕris (

I. fem. paupera, Plaut. Fragm. ap. Serv. Verg. A. 12, 519, called obsolete by Varr. L. L. 8, § 77 Müll.—Neutr. pauperum, Cael. Aur. Tard. 1, 1, 33.—Gen. plur. pauperorum, Petr. 46 dub.; Inscr. ex Ann. p. Chr. n. 341: AMATOR PAVPERORVM, ap. Fea, Framm. de' Fasti Cons. p. 90), adj. root παυ- of παῦρος (cf. paucus, etc.), and per- of pario, pe-per-i, producing little, poor, i. e. not wealthy, of small means, that has only enough for his moderate expenses (cf.: indigus, egenus, inops).—Absol.: pauper, cui opera vita erat, ruri fere Se continebat, Ter. Phorm. 2, 3, 16: qui (judices) saepe propter invidiam adimunt diviti, Aut propter misericordiam addunt pauperi, id. ib. 2, 1, 47: optavit honeste in patriā pauper vivere, id. And. 4, 5, 3: servus domini pauperis, id. Eun. 3, 2, 33; Cic. Par. 6, 3, 50: sisne ex pauperrimo dives factus, id. Vatin. 12, 29: si abundans opibus pauperem se vocet, Quint. 11, 1, 21: quod Aeque pauperibus prodest, locupletibus aeque, Hor. Ep. 1, 1, 25.—With in and abl.: meo sum pauper in aere, Hor. Ep. 2, 2, 12.—

(b). With gen.: horum Semper ego optarim pauperrimus esse bonorum, Hor. S. 1, 1, 79: pauper Opimius argenti positi intus et auri, id. ib. 2, 3, 142: aquae, id. C. 3, 30, 11.— Subst.: pauper, ĕris, comm., a poor man: pauperum tabernae, Hor. C. 1, 4, 13: pauperum cenae, id. ib. 3, 29, 14: pauperum sepulcra, id. Epod. 17, 47: pauperiorum turbae, id. S. 1, 1, 111.—

2. Of things, poor, scanty, inconsiderable, small, meagre (mostly poet. and in post-Aug. prose).—Absol.: pauperes res inopesque, Plaut. Rud. 1, 5, 24: ager, Tib. 1, 1, 23 (19): mensa, id. 1, 1, 37: pauperis tuguri culmen, Verg. E. 1, 69: domus, id. A. 12, 519: et carmen venā pauperiore fluit, Ov. P. 4, 2, 20: pauper pudor, Phaedr. 2, 1, 14: nomina pauperis aevi, Luc. 10, 151: eloquentia, Quint. 10, 5, 5.— With gen.: pauper sulci cerealis Abella, Sil. 8, 545.—With abl.: exemplis pauperior, App. Flor. fin.—

B. Transf., for egenus, needy, indigent: homo Pauper, qui educit in egestate liberos, Caecil. ap. Gell. 2, 23, 21: inopes ac pauperes, Cic. Par. 6, 3, 52.—

II. Trop., poor, feeble, intellectually (very rare; cf. miser, misellus): miser enim et (ut ita dicam) pauper orator est, qui, etc., Quint. 8 prooem. § 28.—

(b). Pauperes spiritu, i. e. humble, Vulg. Matt. 5, 3.—Hence, adv., poorly; in comp.: pauperius incedit, Tert. Cult. Fem. 11 fin.

Origins

Proto-Indo-European*peh₂w-
Proto-Indo-European*perh₃-?
Proto-Indo-European*peh₂w(o)p(o)rh₃o-
Proto-Italic*paw(o)paro-?
Latinpauper

Latin pauper Inherited from Proto-Italic *paw(o)paro-, a thematic adjective which was switched to the third declension in Latin analogically, from a compound beginning with Proto-Indo-European *peh₂w- (“few, small”, compare English few). The origin of the second element, -per, is less certain, but probably *perh₃- (“to grant, bestow, provide”) (compare Ancient Greek ἔπορον (époron, “to supply, grant, pay”)), therefore the compound meant “providing little”.

Descendants

Catalanpobre
Italianpovero
Occitanpaure
Frenchpauvrefrom Old French povre
Englishpoorfrom Old French povre
Portuguesepobrefrom Old Galician-Portuguese pobre
Spanishpobrefrom Old Spanish pobre
Sardinianpoaru
Sardinianpobaru
Sardinianpoberu

In English words that came into English from pauper

poorpauper
povertypaupertās
pauperpauper
impoverishpauper
depauperatedepauperātus