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impoverishment - 3 dictionary results

im⋅pov⋅er⋅ish

  [im-pov-er-ish, -pov-rish]
Use impoverishment in a Sentence
–verb (used with object)
1. to reduce to poverty: a country impoverished by war.
2. to make poor in quality, productiveness, etc.; exhaust the strength or richness of: Bad farming practices impoverished the soil.
Origin:
1400–50; late ME empoverishen < MF empovriss- (long s. of empovrir), equiv. to em- em- 1 + povre poor + -iss -ish 2

Related forms:
im⋅pov⋅er⋅ish⋅er, noun
im⋅pov⋅er⋅ish⋅ment, noun

Synonyms:
2. deplete, drain; weaken, enervate, fatigue, cripple.

Antonyms:
1, 2. enrich.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
Cite This Source Link To impoverishment
im·pov·er·ish   (ĭm-pŏv'ər-ĭsh, -pŏv'rĭsh)   
tr.v.   im·pov·er·ished, im·pov·er·ish·ing, im·pov·er·ish·es
  1. To reduce to poverty; make poor.
  2. To deprive of natural richness or strength: impoverish the soil by overuse. See Synonyms at deplete.

[Middle English empoverishen, from Old French empovrir, empovriss- : en-, causative pref.; see en-1 + povre, poor (from Latin pauper; see pauper).]
im·pov'er·ish·ment n.
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Impoverishment

Im*pov"er*ish*ment\, n. [Cf. OF. empoverissement, and F. appauvrissement.] The act of impoverishing, or the state of being impoverished; reduction to poverty. --Sir W. Scott.
Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc.
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