Poverty in Different Languages
Discover 'Poverty' in 134 Languages: Dive into Translations, Hear Pronunciations, and Uncover Cultural Insights.
Updated on March 6, 2024
Poverty is a significant and complex issue that affects individuals, families, and communities around the world. Defined as the state of being extremely poor, poverty has cultural, social, and economic implications that impact the well-being and opportunities of those affected. Understanding poverty in different languages can shed light on the unique challenges and experiences of people living in poverty across different cultures and societies.
Historically, poverty has been a persistent issue that has affected human societies for centuries. Despite progress in reducing poverty rates in some regions, it remains a pressing concern that requires ongoing attention and action. In fact, the World Bank estimates that more than 700 million people worldwide still live in extreme poverty, defined as living on less than $1.90 a day.
Understanding the translation of poverty in different languages can also provide insight into the cultural importance of this issue. For example, in Spanish, poverty is translated as 'pobreza,' while in French, it is 'pauvreté.' In German, the word for poverty is 'Armut,' and in Mandarin Chinese, it is '贫困 (pínkù).' By exploring these translations, we can gain a deeper appreciation for the global impact of poverty and the shared responsibility to address it.
Poverty
Poverty in Sub-Saharan African Languages
| Afrikaans | armoede | ||
| "Armoede" is derived from the Old French word "arm" meaning "pitiful, wretched," and was first used in Afrikaans in the 19th century. | |||
| Amharic | ድህነት | ||
| The Amharic word "ድህነት" (poverty) derives from the Semitic root "dhn," meaning "to be feeble" or "weak." | |||
| Hausa | talauci | ||
| The word 'talauci' in Hausa is derived from the word 'talauci' in Arabic, which means 'to perish'. It can also refer to a person who is poor or destitute. | |||
| Igbo | ịda ogbenye | ||
| Įda ọgbẹnyẹ in Igbo also denotes 'a state of being small, little or insignificant'. | |||
| Malagasy | fahantrana | ||
| "FAHANTRANA" comes from the verb "FAHANA" (to be lacking) and the suffix "-TRANA" (state of being). | |||
| Nyanja (Chichewa) | umphawi | ||
| The word "umphawi" also means "lack of" in Nyanja. | |||
| Shona | urombo | ||
| The Shona word 'urombo' is also used to refer to destitution, neediness, and the state of being poor. | |||
| Somali | saboolnimada | ||
| The word "saboolnimada" in Somali comes from the Arabic word "sabl", meaning "way" or "path". | |||
| Sesotho | bofuma | ||
| The word "bofuma" derives from the Proto-Bantu word "*bu-fuma" meaning "to get lost, | |||
| Swahili | umaskini | ||
| In Swahili, the word "umaskini" derives from the root "maskini" meaning "poor" or "needy." | |||
| Xhosa | intlupheko | ||
| The word 'intlupheko' can also mean 'need' or 'lack of something'. | |||
| Yoruba | osi | ||
| Òsí is a Yoruba word that can mean | |||
| Zulu | ubumpofu | ||
| The related concept 'ubumpofu', or extreme poverty, is not merely a state of material deprivation, but also implies social isolation and a loss of dignity. | |||
| Bambara | faantanya | ||
| Ewe | ahedada | ||
| Kinyarwanda | ubukene | ||
| Lingala | bobola | ||
| Luganda | obwaavu | ||
| Sepedi | bodiidi | ||
| Twi (Akan) | ohia | ||
Poverty in North African & Middle Eastern Languages
| Arabic | الفقر | ||
| "فقر" is also used in Arabic to refer to the deficiency of a bodily organ or the lack of a necessary thing. | |||
| Hebrew | עוני | ||
| The Hebrew word עוני originally referred to "humility" and "meekness" and developed a second meaning of "material want" through association with being humble before God. | |||
| Pashto | غربت | ||
| "غربت" in Pashto can also mean being a stranger or feeling homesick. | |||
| Arabic | الفقر | ||
| "فقر" is also used in Arabic to refer to the deficiency of a bodily organ or the lack of a necessary thing. | |||
Poverty in Western European Languages
| Albanian | varfëria | ||
| It is thought to be derived from the Indo-European root | |||
| Basque | pobrezia | ||
| The word "pobrezia" also refers to the condition of being poor and the state of being destitute. | |||
| Catalan | pobresa | ||
| 'Pobresa' comes from the Latin 'paupertas' (lack of resources), and the Catalan word 'pobre' (poor) derives from this. | |||
| Croatian | siromaštvo | ||
| The same word can also refer to a destitute person, and is thought to derive from 'sirotinja', meaning 'orphans'. | |||
| Danish | fattigdom | ||
| In Danish, the word "fattigdom" derives from "fattig," meaning "poor," and reflects the notion of a state of lacking resources or income. | |||
| Dutch | armoede | ||
| "Armoede" is derived from the Old French word "armoie," meaning "box" or "cupboard," and came to mean "poverty" in Dutch. | |||
| English | poverty | ||
| The word "poverty" originally meant lack of money or property, but its meaning has expanded to include lack of basic necessities such as food, clothing, and shelter. | |||
| French | la pauvreté | ||
| "La pauvreté" derives from the Latin "paupertas" meaning "smallness," reflecting a view of poverty as a lack of material goods | |||
| Frisian | earmoed | ||
| The Frisian word “earmoed” comes from the Proto-Germanic word meaning “sorrow.” | |||
| Galician | pobreza | ||
| The Galician word "pobreza" is derived from the Latin "paupertas," meaning "poor" or "needy," and also shares a root with the Spanish word "pobre." | |||
| German | armut | ||
| In German, the word "Armut" comes from the Latin "armus" meaning "upper arm", indicating the vulnerability and weakness associated with poverty. | |||
| Icelandic | fátækt | ||
| The word 'fátækt' is also used to refer to people who are unable to work due to age or illness. | |||
| Irish | bochtaineacht | ||
| The word "bochtaineacht" is derived from the Old Irish word "bocht", meaning "poor" or "wretched". | |||
| Italian | povertà | ||
| The Italian word "povertà" originates from the Latin word "paupertas," meaning "lack of means" or "neediness." | |||
| Luxembourgish | aarmut | ||
| The Luxembourgish word "Aarmut" does not mean "pear", despite its similarity with the German word "Armut" meaning "pear". | |||
| Maltese | faqar | ||
| The term 'faqar' can also mean 'need' or 'want' in religious contexts, derived from the Arabic verb 'faqara', meaning 'to be poor'. | |||
| Norwegian | fattigdom | ||
| The word 'fattigdom' is derived from the Old Norse word 'fattigr', meaning 'poor or needy' | |||
| Portuguese (Portugal, Brazil) | pobreza | ||
| The Portuguese word "pobreza" is derived from the Latin word "paupertas," meaning "want" or "lack." | |||
| Scots Gaelic | bochdainn | ||
| There is no certain etymology for the word, but it is likely to be derived from the word 'bochd' meaning 'poor' or 'wretched'. | |||
| Spanish | pobreza | ||
| "Pobreza" means "poverty" in Spanish but shares the etymological root "-bor" with "labor","robor" and "absorber" and thus also has meanings of "work" or "laborious". | |||
| Swedish | fattigdom | ||
| The word "fattigdom" is derived from the Old Norse word "fatækr", which means "poor" or "needy". | |||
| Welsh | tlodi | ||
| The word 'tlodi' is derived from the Proto-Celtic word '*tlodos' meaning 'wretched' or 'poor'. | |||
Poverty in Eastern European Languages
| Belarusian | галеча | ||
| The word "галеча" in Belarusian originates from the Proto-Slavic word *golь, meaning naked or poor, and is cognate with the Russian word голь (gol), meaning the same. | |||
| Bosnian | siromaštvo | ||
| The word “siromaštvo” is of Serbian origin and is related to the word “sirota”, which means “orphan”. | |||
| Bulgarian | бедност | ||
| The word "бедност" comes from the Old Church Slavonic word "бедный", meaning "poor" or "needy". | |||
| Czech | chudoba | ||
| "Chudoba" is derived from an Old Czech word meaning "lacking," and is also used to refer to scarcity or hardship. | |||
| Estonian | vaesus | ||
| The term 'vaesus' can also refer to 'misfortune' or 'lack of something', and is related to the Proto-Finnic word 'waiwas' which means "short, poor". | |||
| Finnish | köyhyys | ||
| The first part of "köyhyys", 'köyhä', referred initially only to someone who was unable to repay their debt or compensate for an offense. | |||
| Hungarian | szegénység | ||
| The word "szegénység" derives from the word "szeg", meaning "corner", and refers to the marginalized and impoverished people living on the fringes of society. | |||
| Latvian | nabadzība | ||
| "Nabadzība" is a word of Latvian origin, related to "nabads" meaning "poor" and "bads" meaning "hunger"} | |||
| Lithuanian | skurdas | ||
| The word "skurdas" in Lithuanian originates from the Proto-Indo-European root "*skwer-", meaning "to cut" or "to scrape", conveying the idea of being cut off or destitute. | |||
| Macedonian | сиромаштијата | ||
| In Macedonian, the word "сиромаштијата" can also mean "misery" or "lack of resources". | |||
| Polish | ubóstwo | ||
| The Polish word 'ubóstwo' derives from the Proto-Slavic 'ǫboʒьstvъ', meaning 'scarcity', 'lack', or 'need'. | |||
| Romanian | sărăcie | ||
| The Romanian word "sărăcie" is derived from the Latin word "sarculum" or "sarculo" referring to the hoe, an agricultural tool primarily utilized by the impoverished. | |||
| Russian | бедность | ||
| "Бедность" originated from "беда" (misfortune), and means "a state of great distress" | |||
| Serbian | сиромаштво | ||
| The Serbian word "сиромаштво" is derived from the Proto-Slavic word "siromъ", meaning "orphan" or "widow"} | |||
| Slovak | chudoba | ||
| "Chudoba" comes from the Old Slavic word "chud", meaning "lean" or "thin". | |||
| Slovenian | revščina | ||
| The word “revščina” has the extended meaning of “misery” and the phrase “imeti revščino” means “to have misery”. | |||
| Ukrainian | бідність | ||
| The Ukrainian word "бідність" also implies a lack of social status or respect. | |||
Poverty in South Asian Languages
| Bengali | দারিদ্র্য | ||
| Derived from Sanskrit, 'daridra', meaning poor, destitute or deprived | |||
| Gujarati | ગરીબી | ||
| The word "garibi" derives from the Sanskrit word "griha" meaning "house" and "bhi" meaning "fear". Thus, "garibi" literally means "fear of losing one's home". | |||
| Hindi | दरिद्रता | ||
| The word 'दरिद्रता' derives from the Sanskrit root 'drih', meaning 'to break' or 'to be broken'. | |||
| Kannada | ಬಡತನ | ||
| The word 'ಬಡತನ' (poverty) is derived from the Proto-Dravidian word 'paṯa', meaning 'destitute'. | |||
| Malayalam | ദാരിദ്ര്യം | ||
| The Sanskrit word 'darid' meaning 'to split' also refers to the concept of 'poverty' because poverty splits and separates an individual from the rest of society socially and economically. | |||
| Marathi | दारिद्र्य | ||
| The word 'दारिद्र्य' in Marathi also means 'lack of wealth or prosperity'. | |||
| Nepali | गरीबी | ||
| The word 'गरीबी' (garibi) is derived from the Sanskrit word 'गुरू' (guru), meaning heavy or weighty, connoting the burden of economic hardship. | |||
| Punjabi | ਗਰੀਬੀ | ||
| The word "garibi" is derived from the Sanskrit word "garima," meaning "heaviness" or "weight." | |||
| Sinhala (Sinhalese) | දරිද්රතා | ||
| Tamil | வறுமை | ||
| The word "வறுமை" (poverty) in Tamil originally meant "dryness" or "barrenness". | |||
| Telugu | పేదరికం | ||
| The word "పేదరికం" is derived from the Sanskrit word "पिता" (pita), meaning "father", and the suffix "-రికం" (-rikam), indicating "state or condition". It thus originally meant "the state of being a father" but has come to be used more generally to refer to "the state of being poor". | |||
| Urdu | غربت | ||
| The word 'غربت' (ghurbat) has its roots in the Arabic word 'غربة' (ghurba), which means 'solitude' or 'separation' and is also used to describe the state of being away from one's homeland. | |||
Poverty in East Asian Languages
| Chinese (Simplified) | 贫穷 | ||
| In Chinese, 贫穷 (pínqióng) literally means "empty storage" or "lack of wealth". | |||
| Chinese (Traditional) | 貧窮 | ||
| 貧(poor) and 窮(exhaustion) in "貧窮" both have the radical 乏(lack) in their Chinese character structure. | |||
| Japanese | 貧困 | ||
| The first character 貧 means thin and 困 means predicament or hardship. | |||
| Korean | 가난 | ||
| The word "가난" (poverty) in Korean is cognate with the Japanese word "かんなん" (difficulty), suggesting a shared historical origin. | |||
| Mongolian | ядуурал | ||
| The word "ядуурал" ("poverty" in Mongolian) is also used to refer to "lack of merit." | |||
| Myanmar (Burmese) | ဆင်းရဲမွဲတေမှု | ||
Poverty in South East Asian Languages
| Indonesian | kemiskinan | ||
| The word "kemiskinan" in Indonesian is derived from the Proto-Austronesian word *kemiskin* which also means "dependence" or "lowliness". | |||
| Javanese | mlarat | ||
| The word "mlarat" in Javanese, meaning "poverty," can also refer to a state of "exhaustion" or "helplessness." | |||
| Khmer | ភាពក្រីក្រ | ||
| Lao | ຄວາມທຸກຍາກ | ||
| Malay | kemiskinan | ||
| "Kemiskinan" in Malay traces back to the Sanskrit "komiskin-" meaning "emaciated", indicating the physical manifestations of poverty. | |||
| Thai | ความยากจน | ||
| The Thai word "ความยากจน" (poverty) comes from the Sanskrit word "yajña" (sacrifice), suggesting a connection between poverty and the failure to perform religious rituals. | |||
| Vietnamese | nghèo nàn | ||
| In Vietnamese, the word "nghèo nàn" is also used to express a lack of richness or complexity in thought, expression, or resources. | |||
| Filipino (Tagalog) | kahirapan | ||
Poverty in Central Asian Languages
| Azerbaijani | yoxsulluq | ||
| The word "yoxsulluq" in Azerbaijani can also refer to a state of deprivation or destitution. | |||
| Kazakh | кедейлік | ||
| The term may be related to the Persian word | |||
| Kyrgyz | жакырчылык | ||
| The word "жакырчылык" is derived from the word "жакыр" which means "poor" or "needy". It can also refer to a state of destitution or deprivation. | |||
| Tajik | камбизоатӣ | ||
| The word "камбизоатӣ" in Tajik is derived from the Arabic word "كمبوزات" (kambūzāt), meaning "poor people" or "beggars". | |||
| Turkmen | garyplyk | ||
| Uzbek | qashshoqlik | ||
| The word "qashshoqlik" in Uzbek also refers to a state of being destitute or without resources. | |||
| Uyghur | نامراتلىق | ||
Poverty in Pacific Languages
| Hawaiian | ʻilihune | ||
| ʻilihune also means 'small, short, stunted, or dwarfed'. | |||
| Maori | rawakore | ||
| "Rawakore" shares the same root as "rakau" (tree), which suggests a connection to the importance of natural resources in Maori culture. | |||
| Samoan | mativa | ||
| 'mativa' can also refer to 'being without resources' and figuratively 'being without strength, energy, or vitality'. | |||
| Tagalog (Filipino) | kahirapan | ||
| The Tagalog word "kahirapan" is derived from the root word "hirap" meaning "difficulty" or "hardship". | |||
Poverty in American Indigenous Languages
| Aymara | pisinkaña | ||
| Guarani | mboriahureko | ||
Poverty in International Languages
| Esperanto | malriĉeco | ||
| "Malriĉeco" derives from the Proto-Indo-European root *meǵʰ- "small, less", akin to English "meager" and "measure" | |||
| Latin | paupertās | ||
| The word "paupertās" in Latin can also refer to a specific type of debt or obligation. | |||
Poverty in Others Languages
| Greek | φτώχεια | ||
| The word "φτώχεια" originally meant "lack of land" and implied a lack of political power. | |||
| Hmong | kev txom nyem | ||
| The Hmong word "kev txom nyem" literally means "no money, but in this context, it refers to the broader concept of poverty. | |||
| Kurdish | bêmalî | ||
| The Kurdish word "bêmalî" originally meant "lack of animal grazing land." | |||
| Turkish | yoksulluk | ||
| The Turkish word "yoksulluk" is derived from the Arabic word "faqar", meaning hardship, lack or deprivation. | |||
| Xhosa | intlupheko | ||
| The word 'intlupheko' can also mean 'need' or 'lack of something'. | |||
| Yiddish | אָרעמקייט | ||
| In Yiddish, "אָרעמקייט" shares a root with the word "אָרעם," meaning "arm" or "poor," highlighting the physical and emotional destitution associated with poverty. | |||
| Zulu | ubumpofu | ||
| The related concept 'ubumpofu', or extreme poverty, is not merely a state of material deprivation, but also implies social isolation and a loss of dignity. | |||
| Assamese | দৰিদ্ৰতা | ||
| Aymara | pisinkaña | ||
| Bhojpuri | गरीबी | ||
| Dhivehi | ފަޤީރުކަން | ||
| Dogri | गरीबी | ||
| Filipino (Tagalog) | kahirapan | ||
| Guarani | mboriahureko | ||
| Ilocano | kinakurapay | ||
| Krio | po | ||
| Kurdish (Sorani) | هەژاری | ||
| Maithili | गरीबी | ||
| Meiteilon (Manipuri) | ꯂꯥꯏꯔꯕ | ||
| Mizo | retheihna | ||
| Oromo | hiyyummaa | ||
| Odia (Oriya) | ଦାରିଦ୍ର୍ୟ | ||
| Quechua | wakcha kay | ||
| Sanskrit | निर्धनता | ||
| Tatar | ярлылык | ||
| Tigrinya | ድኽነት | ||
| Tsonga | vusweti | ||