tr.v. im·pov·er·ished, im·pov·er·ish·ing, im·pov·er·ish·es 1. To reduce to poverty; make poor: Bad harvests impoverished the family. 2. To deprive of richness or strength: Excessive erosion can impoverish the soil. [Middle English empoverishen, from Old French empovrir, empovriss- : en-, causative pref.; see EN-1 + povre, poor (from Latin pauper; see PAUPER).] im·pover·ish·ment n. |
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition copyright ©2022 by HarperCollins Publishers. All rights reserved.