pauper
[paw-per]
- a person without any means of support, especially a destitute person who depends on aid from public welfare funds or charity.
- a very poor person.
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Origin of pauper
1485–95; < Latin: poor
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Related Words
supplicantdown-and-outbankruptbeggardependenthave-notmendicantbuminsolventlazarusdestituteindigentExamples from the Web for pauper
Contemporary Examples
He returned home a pauper without a pension and 50 years later, at 70, chronicled the travails of the War of Independence.
So, the prince in the old saying “eat breakfast like a king, lunch like a prince, and dinner like a pauper” might need to retire.
How to Use Your Lunch Hour for Better Productivity, Without Ever Taking a BiteGregory Ferenstein
April 23, 2014
Historical Examples
Even in his native town, he seldom had other than pauper cases to defend.
Self-HelpSamuel Smiles
Yes, he said; nearly everybody is a pauper who is not a ruler.
The RepublicPlato
Now, it's my idea that, long's he's bound to be a pauper, he might's well be treated as a pauper.
Cape Cod StoriesJoseph C. Lincoln
I should deserve to be the pauper that I am if such had been my habits.
St. Martin's SummerRafael Sabatini
We have witnessed also the development of the pauper and criminal classes.
The Negro FarmerCarl Kelsey
pauper
- a person who is extremely poor
- (formerly) a destitute person supported by public charity
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Word Origin
C16: from Latin: poor
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
© William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
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Word Origin and History for pauper
n.
1510s, "person destitute of property or means of livelihood," from Latin pauper "poor, not wealthy, of small means" (see poor (adj.)). Originally in English a legal word, from Latin phrase in forma pauperis (late 15c.) "in the character of a poor person," thus allowed to sue in court without legal fees.
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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper