▪ I. poor, a. (n.)
(pʊə(r), pɔə(r))
Forms: α. 3–5 pouere (povere), 3–6 pouer (pover), (4 poeuere, poeure, pouir), 4–5 poer, powere, 5 poyr, 5–6 power, (6 poware). β. 3–5 poure, 4– 6 powre, pour. γ. 3–7 (–9 dial.) pore, 4–7 poore, (6) 7– poor. δ. Sc. and north. dial. 4–6 pur, 4–8 pure, (4 puyre, 5 pwyr, poyr, 6 peur(e, pwir, puire), 6– puir (y), (9 peer).
[ME. pov(e)re, pouere, poure, a. OF. povre, -ere, poure, in mod.F. pauvre, dial. paure, pouvre, poure = Pr. paubre, paure, It. povero, Sp., Pg. pobre:—L. pauper, late L. also pauper-us, poor. The mod.Eng. poor and Sc. puir represent the ME. pōre: with mod. vulgar pore, cf. whore and the pronunciation of door, floor.
On account of the ambiguity of the letter u and its variant v before 1600, it is uncertain whether ME. pouere, poure, pouer, meant pou- or pov-. The phonetic series paupere(m, paupre, paubre, pobre, povre, shows that povre preceded poure, which may have been reached in late OF., and is the form in various mod.F. dialects. But the 15th and early 16th c. literary Fr. form was povre, artificially spelt in 15th c. pauvre, after L. pauper, and ME. pōre (the source of mod.Eng. poor) seems to have been reduced from povre like o'er from over, lord from loverd. Cf. also poortith, porail, poverty. But some Eng. dialects now have pour (paʊr), which prob. represents ME. pour (puːr).]
A. Illustration of Forms.
| α c 1205 Lay. 22715 Riche men and pouere. c 1300 Cursor M. 19775 (Edin.) Wiþ pouir [v.r. pouer] widus umbisette. c 1375 Sc. Leg. Saints vi. (Thomas) 453 Vith powere folk. c 1380 Wyclif Wks. (1880) 69 Be þe peple neuere so poer. c 1380 ― Sel. Wks. III. 518 Poeure nedy men. c 1440 York Myst. xli. 48 And yf so be that she be power [rime honoure]. 1434 Misyn Mending Life iii. 110 Blissyd be þai þat ar poyr in spirytt. 1540 Test. Ebor. (Surtees) VI. 108 My power frendes and neghbors. 1554–9 in Songs & Ball. (1860) 11 Uppone the poware commens. |
| β c 1200 Trin. Coll. Hom. 47 Gif hie was poure. 13.. Cursor M. 4375 (Cott.) Leuer es me be pour [v.rr. pouer, pore] and lele. c 1489 Caxton Sonnes of Aymon iv. 117 The foure powre knyghtes. Ibid. xviii. 400 He lived like an heremyte a poure liffe. 1535 Bury Wills (Camden) 125 The helpe and socour of my pour soule. |
| γ c 1275 Lay. 22715 Riche and pore. a 1400 Prymer (1891) 84 [Ps. xl. 17] Forsoþe y am a beggere and poore. 1475 Bk. Noblesse (Roxb.) 73 The pore comons. 1536 in Lett. Suppress. Monasteries (Camden) 132 Desyuryng you..to be good and gracyus lord unto me synful and poor creatur. 1592 C'tess Shrewsbury in Ellis Orig. Lett. Ser. ii. III. 165 Ageinst the pore chyld. 1611 Bible Jas. ii. 2 A poore man in vile raiment. 1629 Sir W. Mure True Crucif. 2587 In soule most pore [rime Ore]. 1650 Poor [see B. 1 c]. 1677 Lady Chaworth in 12th Rep. Hist. MSS. Comm. App. v. 36 To honour my poore house. |
| δ 1340 Hampole Pr. Consc. 509 Naked we come hider, and bare And pure. c 1375 Sc. Leg. Saints vi. (Thomas) 365 Puyre and riche men elyke. c 1470 Henry Wallace viii. 467 Our rewme is pur, waistit be Sotheroun blud. 1483 Cath. Angl. 294/1 Pure (A. Pwyr). 1533 Gau Richt Vay 14 Thair pwir frendis. 1539 Aberdeen Regr. (1844) I. 165 Puyr boddeis. 1568 Satir. Poems Reform. xlvii. 82 Quhat cummer castis the formest stane..At tha peure winschis. 1802 R. Anderson Cumberld. Ball. 43 She..can always feel For peer fwok when distrest. |
B. Signification.
I. 1. a. Having few, or no, material possessions; wanting means to procure the comforts, or the necessaries, of life; needy, indigent, destitute;
spec. (
esp. in legal use) so destitute as to be dependent upon gifts or allowances for subsistence. In common use expressing various degrees, from absolute want to straitened circumstances or limited means relatively to station, as ‘a poor gentleman’, ‘a poor professional man, clergyman, scholar, clerk’, etc. The opposite of
rich, or
wealthy.
poor people, the poor as a class: often with connotation of humble rank or station.
| c 1200 [see A. β]. a 1240 Sawles Warde in Cott. Hom. 261 Ich iseh þe apostles poure ant lah on eorðe. 13.. Cursor M. 13312 (Cott.) To petre þat he pouerest fand, Of all he mad him mast weldand. 1390 Gower Conf. III. 155 He wiste wel his pours was povere. 1432–50 tr. Higden (Rolls) V. 7 The son of a pover wedowe. 1547–8 in E. Green Somerset Chantries (1888) 12 Ther is within the saide paryshe a house of poore people, callyd the spitle howse. 1605 Shakes. Lear i. iv. 21 If thou be'st as poore for a subiect, as hee's for a King, thou art poore enough. 1665 R. Brathwait Comment Two Tales 8 This Poor hath been an Epithete for Scholars in all Ages. a 1687 Petty Pol. Arith. Pref., The whole Kingdom grows every day poorer and poorer. 1789 W. Buchan Dom. Med. (1790) 23 Mothers of the poorer sort. 1847 C. Brontë J. Eyre iv, They are almost like poor people's children! |
b. In proverbial comparisons: see
church-mouse,
Job n.4 1,
rat n.1 2 c.
| 1390 Gower Conf. II. 211 To ben for evere til I deie As povere as Job. 1533, etc. [see job n.4 1]. 1782 F. Burney Cecilia ix. iv, See, he's as poor as a rat. 1900 S. Weyman Sophia v, All as poor as rats, and no one better than the other. |
c. Of, involving, or characterized by poverty.
| 13.. Cursor M. 13272 (Cott.) Mene men o pour lijf [Fairf. men of pouer fode]. c 1380 Wyclif Sel. Wks. III. 518 Crist wiþ his apostlis lyvede most povere lif. 1650 Fuller Pisgah ii. vi. 143 Here he [Christ]..had his poor and painfull education, working on his Fathers trade. a 1661 ― Worthies (1662) i. 57 Forced..to take..poor and painful Employments for their Livelyhood. 1816 Scott Antiq. xxvii, I'm sorry to see ye in sic a peer state, man. |
d. fig. (or in generalized sense).
| c 1325 Spec. Gy Warw. 164 Þouh man haue muche katel..Ȝit he may be pore of mod And low of herte. 1390 Gower Conf. II. 128 So is he povere, and everemore Him lacketh that he hath ynowh. c 1400 Mandeville (Roxb.) xi. 48 Blissed be þai þat er pouer in spirit. 1867 J. Ingelow Regret 12 They are poor That have lost nothing; they are poorer far Who, losing, have forgotten. 1876 C. D. Warner Wint. Nile ii. 33 People are poor in proportion as their wants are not gratified. |
e. Phr.
poor but honest.
| 1748 Smollett Rod. Rand. I. xviii. 150, I am a poor, but honest cobler's son. 1824 Knapp & Baldwin Newgate Calendar I. 149/1 John Hawkins was born of poor but honest parents. 1869 ‘Mark Twain’ Innoc. Abr. xxi. 211 ‘He was the son of―’ ‘Poor but honest parents—that is all right—never mind the particulars—go on with the legend.’ 1922 W. J. Locke Tale of Triona viii. 90, I was born—I shan't tell you the year—of poor but honest parents. 1939 A. Thirkell Before Lunch v. 126 ‘Do you mean to say you ride one of those things.’ Daphne said she was poor but honest, and why not. 1972 C. Weston Poor, Poor Ophelia (1973) iii. 18 ‘So he's a slave, too,’ she commented. ‘Right on for Poor-But-Honest headed for the top.’ |
2. a. Lacking, ill supplied; having a want or deficiency of some specified (or implied) possession or quality:
const. † of (
obs.),
in.
| 1377 Langl. P. Pl. B. xiii. 301 Pore of possessioun in purse and in coffre. 1393 Ibid. C. xvii. 161 He þat haþ londe and lordshep,..Shal be pourest of power at hus partyng hennes. 14.. Tundale's Vis. 22 He hadde ynowȝ of all rychesse, But he was pore of all godenesse. 1581 Marbeck Bk. of Notes 717 So long as God is not poore of mercie, so long cannot I be poore of merite. 1638 Baker tr. Balzac's Lett. (vol. II.) 30 They that are poore in reputation ought to presse up to the trenches. 1842 Macaulay in Trevelyan Life & Lett. (1876) II. ix. 109 The English language is not so poor but [etc.]. 1863 E. V. Neale Anal. Th. & Nat. 157 Stratified masses, rich in organic remains, though poor in mineral substances. |
b. Of soil, ore, etc.: Yielding little, unproductive.
| 1592 Nashe P. Penilesse (Shaks. Soc.) 32 Onely poore England giues him bread for his cake. 1600 E. Blount tr. Conestaggio 30 All other delights that poore Iland coulde yeelde. 1604 E. G[rimstone] D'Acosta's Hist. Indies iv. v. 218 They cal that [ore] poore which yields least silver. 1765 A. Dickson Treat. Agric. (ed. 2) 475 The poor clays require such manures as contain the greatest plenty of the vegetable food. 1813 Sir H. Davy Agric. Chem. (1814) 192 Poor and hungry soils. 1877 Raymond Statist. Mines & Mining 385 The poor slag contains about 7 ounces of silver and a trace of gold. It is too poor to treat, and is thrown away. |
3. a. In lean or feeble condition from ill feeding.
| 1539 Bible (Great) Gen. xli. 19 Seuen other kyne..poore [Coverd. thynne] and very euell fauored and leane fleshed. 1600 Holland Livy xxi. xl. 415 Their horses, no other than lame jades and poore hidebound hildings. 1697 Dryden Virg. Georg. iii. 321 Before his Training, keep him poor and low. 1716 Swift Progr. Poetry Wks. 1755 III. ii. 161 Cackling shews the goose is poor. 1778 Maryland Jrnl. 10 Feb. 4/2 [The sheep] are very poor, and appear to have been out all winter. 1878 J. H. Beadle Western Wilds xvii. 276 They get poor as snakes on such food; but it does keep body and soul together for awhile. 1887 Rider Haggard Jess xxxi, The horse perished, as ‘poor’ horses are apt to do. |
† b. Out of health, unwell:
= poorly a.
Obs.| 1758 L. Lyon in Milit. Jrnls. (1855) 15 Corperal Carpenter was taken poor. Ibid. 25 This day at night Leiut. Smith came back and very poor he was. 1758 S. Thompson Diary (1896) 12 Our men are very poor, and we scarce could get men for work or for guard. |
4. a. Small in amount; less than is wanted or expected; scanty, insufficient, inadequate.
| a 1255 Ancr. R. 114 Hwar was euer iȝiuen to eni blodletunge so poure pitaunce? 13.. Cursor M. 11307 (Cott.) Pouer gift can sco for him giue Þat com in pouert for to liue. 1535 Stewart Cron. Scot. (Rolls) II. 239 Schir Modred, his power wes so puir, Into the feild no langar micht induir. 1585 T. Washington tr. Nicholay's Voy. i. xv. 16 b, By reason of the poore treasure of the religious..[the place] coulde not haue bin fortified. 1652 Needham tr. Selden's Mare Cl. 493 Every man and maid servant, or Orphant, having any poor stock may venture the same in their Fishing-voiages. 1703 Rowe Ulyss. ii. i. 850 Death is too poor a Name, for that means Rest. 1849 Macaulay Hist. Eng. iii. I. 314 The crop of wheat would be thought poor if it did not exceed twelve millions of quarters. |
b. Depreciatively, with a numeral, connoting the smallness of the number or sum.
| 1596 Shakes. 1 Hen. IV, iii. iii. 180 One poore peny-worth of Sugar-candie. 1600 ― A.Y.L. i. i. 2 It was..bequeathed me by will, but poore a thousand Crownes. 1712 Arbuthnot John Bull iv. ii, What are twenty-two poor years towards the finishing a Lawsuit? 1737 Bracken Farriery Impr. (1757) II. 11 All..he had wagered was poor Thirteen-Pence. 1759 Sterne Tr. Shandy II. viii, It is but poor eight miles from Shandy-Hall. 1819 Keats Isabella xxvi, A poor three hours' absence. |
5. a. Deficient in the proper or desired quality; of little excellence or value; not worth much; of inferior quality, paltry, ‘sorry’; mean, shabby (also
poor-quality used
attrib.). Usually of abstract things: in reference to material objects, often approaching 1 c.
| a 1300 Cursor M. 14869 Þis folk..O littel wijt, o pour resun. 1432–50 tr. Higden (Rolls) I. 71 After some men of pover and breve intellecte, and also of lytelle experience. 1551 T. Wilson Logike (1580) 62 b, Although it be a poore helpe. 1624 Capt. Smith Virginia 51 Such poore bridges, onely made of a few cratches thrust in the o[o]se, and three or four poles laid on them. 1714–15 Hearne Collect. (O.H.S.) V. 37 'Twas a poor Discourse. 1719 De Foe Crusoe (1840) II. xiii. 264 They made but poor work of it. 1777 Burke Corr. (1844) II. 149 The House never made so poor a figure as in the debate on that bill. 1843 Mrs. Carlyle Lett. (1883) I. 252 Seditious cries will make a poor battle against cannon. 1888 Bryce Amer. Commw. II. lii. 301 The poor paving of the streets and their lack of cleanliness. 1892 [see ignorant a. 1 b]. a 1908 Mod. It was poor consolation to me to know [etc.]. 1948 C. L. B. Hubbard Dogs in Brit. 234 The English Setter appears to be in danger of deteriorating into a very pretty but poor-quality worker. 1960 Farmer & Stockbreeder 9 Feb. 57/3 When I was a boy we used to chaff poor-quality hay and mix it with molasses. 1966 G. Greene Comedians i. i. 23 Cynicism is cheap..it's built into all poor-quality goods. |
b. Mentally or morally inferior; mean-spirited, sneaking; paltry, despicable, ‘small’; wanting in courage, spiritless.
| 1425 Paston Lett. I. 19 So fals, and so pouere,—but he was nevere of my kyn. 1611 Tourneur Ath. Trag. ii. v, A poore spirit is poorer than a poore purse. 1627 tr. Bacon's Life & Death (1651) 17 A Man of a poore Minde, and not valiant. 1685 Earl of Rochester Valentinian v. ii, Shall I grow then so poor as to repent? 1796 Nelson in Nicolas Disp. (1846) VII. p. lxxxviii, He is a poor creature and more of a Genoese than an Englishman. 1882 Stevenson New Arab. Nts., Rajah's Diamond, He seemed altogether a poor and debile being. 1884 St. James' Gaz. 12 Jan. 3/1 From the intellectual point of view, there could not be a poorer creature. |
c. Slight, insignificant, of little consequence.
| 1603 Knolles Hist. Turks (1621) 1 The glorious Empire of the Turkes,..hath..nothing in it more wonderfull or strange, than the poore beginning of itself. 1721 Strype Eccl. Mem. III. iv. 38 Henry Earl of Surrey..for..the poor crime of assuming somewhat into his coat of arms, was actually beheaded. 1903 Myers Hum. Personality 2 Each one of those great sciences was in its dim and poor beginning. |
d. In modest or apologetic use, said depreciatively of oneself, one's performance, or something belonging to or offered by oneself: Of little worth or pretension; humble, lowly, insignificant.
| 1423 Jas. I. Kingis Q. xcix, Vnto ȝoure grace lat now ben acceptable My pure request. ? a 1500 Chester Pl. (E.E.T.S.) 250 Well is me that I may se thy face, here in my house, this poore place! 1585 T. Washington tr. Nicholay's Voy. Ep. Ded., To exclude olde men..is (in my poore conceipt) palpable erronious. 1602 Shakes. Ham. i. v. 131 For mine owne poore part, Looke you, Ile goe pray. 1605 Camden Rem. Ded. 1 This silly pittiful, and poore Treatise. a 1745 Swift (J.), To be without power or distinction, is not, in my poor opinion, a very amiable situation to a person of title. 1814 Wordsw. Excurs. iii. 118 If from my poor retirement ye had gone Leaving this nook unvisited. |
e. Used with
little in depreciatory (and
freq. ironical) senses,
esp. in the phrases
poor little guy, the ordinary individual, the ‘man in the street’;
poor little me (see
little a. 13);
poor little rich boy, girl, used (sometimes ironically) of a person whose wealth has not brought happiness.
| 1925 N. Coward Poor Little Rich Girl (song) 3 Poor little rich girl, You're a bewitched girl, Better beware! 1934 ‘G. Orwell’ Burmese Days v. 91 Unmanly whinings; poor-little-rich-girl stuff. 1940 Graves & Hodge Long Week-End xvii. 300 Spender wrote poor-little-rich-boy poems, full of genuine pity for the exploited poor, and for himself. 1958 [see mass n.2 4 a]. 1961 Guardian 28 Apr. 30/6 A disturbing flavour of the poor little rich boy, of the attitude which claims privilege for me just because I am me. 1967 Boston Sunday Herald 26 Mar. 1. 9/7 Only the poor little guy is subject to the zoning code. 1973 Times 23 Mar. 17/6 A comedy-weepie about a poor little rich girl. 1974 J. Mann Sticking Place ii. 37 There was still something pathetic about her..a poor little rich girl. 1977 Daily Tel. 4 Mar. 3/5 A Conservative M.P.'s daughter on a heroin charge was ‘really just a poor little rich girl..who has had an unhappy life’ a magistrate said yesterday. |
f. to take a poor view, to have a low opinion (
of something); to regard unfavourably.
| 1943 Hunt & Pringle Service Slang 52 If you do not agree with a statement or with your C.O.'s ruling..or, in fact, with the world in general, you take a poor view. 1944 ‘N. Shute’ Pastoral i. 4 The Wing Commander had taken a poor view of that. 1946 E. Linklater Private Angelo x. 115 The Germans are about to do something that we take a poor view of, and I'm going to see if I can put a stop to it. a 1966 ‘M. na Gopaleen’ Best of Myles (1968) 41 The brother took a very poor view and said she'd be a sorry woman. |
6. Such, or so circumstanced, as to excite one's compassion or pity; unfortunate, hapless. Now chiefly
colloq. In many parts of England regularly said of the dead whom one knew;
= late, deceased.
| c 1275 Lay. 15421 To ȝam saide þo þer Þe pore king Vortiger. 1390 Gower Conf. III. 296 This yonge lord..Al naked in a povere plit. c 1400 Destr. Troy 9596 Then Deffibus..Pletid vnto Paris with a pore voise. 1484 Caxton Fables of æsop i. iv, Thus was the poure sheep vaynquysshed. 1513 More Rich. III in Grafton Chron. (1568) II. 776 Going her waye, leaving the poore innocent childe weeping as fast as the mother. a 1568 R. Ascham Scholem. (Arb.) 113 If Osorius would leaue of..his ouer rancke rayling against poore Luther. 1577 B. Googe Heresbach's Husb. ii. (1586) 85 Betwixt the Oke and it [the Olive] there is great hatred..though you cut downe the Oke, yet the very Rootes poysoneth and killeth the poore Oliue. 1691 J. Wilson Belphegor v. iii, Poor comfortless Woman; she's fall'n asleep at last. 1787 F. Burney Diary 26 Feb., Till his [Boswell's] book of poor Dr. Johnson's life is finished and published. 1834 Medwin Angler in Wales II. 347, I often think of poor Leyden's lines. 1857 Mrs. Carlyle Lett. (1883) II. 330 He looked dreadfully weak still, poor fellow! 1870 E. Peacock Ralf Skirl. III. 82 The poor thing had fallen asleep also. 1886 Elworthy W. Somerset Word-bk. s.v., People who are dead are always spoken of as poor so-and-so... ‘You mind the poor old Farmer Follett, that's th' old Farmer George's father you know’. 1887 How to Make a Saint viii. 114–15 In common parlance the word ‘poor’ had by general consent been prefixed to the names of the dead in this country... [They] had been in the habit of speaking of their departed friends as ‘poor So-and-so’. a 1907 Oxford boatman. ‘When my poor dad was ferryman here’. |
II. 7. absol. or as n. (almost always in sense 1).
a. absol. in pl. sense (usually with
the): poor people as a class; those in necessitous or humble circumstances (often contrasted with
the rich);
spec. those dependent upon charitable or parochial relief; paupers. Freq. with a preceding epithet, as
the aged poor,
the deserving poor,
the good poor,
the respectable poor,
the sick poor,
the undeserving poor. Also,
the very poor.
| a 1225 Leg. Kath. 50 Poure ba & riche comen þer to-foren him. c 1230 Hali Meid. 9 Hwen þus is of þe riche, hwat wenes tu of the poure? 13.. Cursor M. 4707 Þe wrecche pouer [Gött. þe wrecched pore] moght find na fode. 1375 Barbour Bruce i. 276 Bath pur, and thai off hey parage. c 1475 Litt. Red Bk. Bristol (1900) I. 141 Aswell to the power as to the riche. 1526 Tindale Mark xiv. 5 It myght have been soolde for more then two houndred pens, and bene geven vnto the povre. 1560 J. Daus tr. Sleidane's Comm. 47 b, Colledges and such other places were fyrst founded for the pore. 1621 Fletcher Pilgrim i. i, What poor attend my charity to-day, wench? c 1658 in F. J. Furnivall Harrison's Descr. Eng. (1908) iv. 207 Cures Colledge..with maintenance for 16..aged poore of the parish. a 1687 Petty Pol. Arith. (1690) 80 The poor of France have generally less Wages than in England. 1750 Gray Elegy viii, The short and simple annals of the poor. 1795 Burke Th. Scarcity Wks. VII. 377 Nothing can be so base and so wicked as the political canting language, ‘The labouring poor’. 1823 E. Weeton Let. 16 Apr. in Jrnl. of Governess (1969) II. 217 Going about..to visit the sick poor as a Member of the Benevolent Society. 1845 E. Smith Jrnl. 28 Oct. (1980) 81 Sick poor, destitute poor, idle, prejudiced poor, oppress me. 1852 Dickens Bleak Ho. (1853) vi. 48 It is said that the children of the very poor are not brought up, but dragged up. 1864 Tennyson North. Farmer, New Style xii, Taäke my word for it, Sammy, the poor in a loomp is bad. 1907 G. B. Shaw Major Barbara Pref. 154 ‘The respectable poor’, and such phrases are as intolerable and as immoral as ‘drunken but amiable’ [etc.]. a 1908 Mod. Money left to the poor of the parish. 1909 W. J. Locke Septimus i. 6 Cousin Jane held distinct views on the cut of under⁓clothes for the deserving poor. 1910 E. M. Forster Howards End vi. 53 We are not concerned with the very poor. They are unthinkable and only to be approached by the statistician or the poet. 1928 A. M. M. Douton Bk. with Seven Seals i. 14 In those days pews were only for those who could pay for them, and free benches..were occupied by the respectable poor. 1937 The sick poor [see hospitalization]. 1972 Listener 9 Mar. 317/1 The Tolpuddle Martyrs..were..the good poor—and little enough they got by it. 1972 J. Mann Mrs. Knox's Profession xiii. 102 The man was obviously one of the old-fashioned ‘good poor’. 1973 Guardian 21 Mar. 10/4, I have no sympathy at all with the kind of people who..do not believe in private property. There is a difference between the undeserving poor and the deserving. Ibid. 18 May 16/2 Many of those who want to be owner-occupiers could properly be described as the deserving poor. 1974 Times 11 Apr. 20 (heading) How can we decide who are the deserving poor? 1977 P. Laslett Family Life Earlier Generations iv. 171 During the next 2 years of life, ages 4 and 5, infants remain very dependent, and even amongst the very poor in pre-industrial society were extremely unlikely to be sent out of the home. 1979 P. Theroux Old Patagonian Express xv. 220 On the higher harder-to-reach slopes..were the huts of the very poor. |
† b. sing. = poor man, poor person. (In
quot. 13.., in sense 5 d.)
Obs.| 13.. E.E. Allit. P. B. 615 Passe neuer fro þi pouere, ȝif I hit pray durst, Er þou haf biden with þi burne & vnder boȝe restted. c 1400 Rom. Rose 5601 But the povre that recchith nought, Save of his lyflode, in his thought. 1484 Caxton Fables of Alfonce iii, I byleue not that this poure may be maculed ne gylty of the blame. c 1500 Kennedy Passion of Christ 480 Thoucht now I stand dispitit as a pure. 1625 Jackson Creed v. xvi. §6 He had given somewhat to every poore in the Parish. |
† c. n. pl. poors.
Obs.| [1343 Rolls of Parlt. II. 136/2 La Lei eit owel Cours entre Poures & Riches.] 1483 Caxton G. de la Tour I iv b, Who that receyueth the prophetes the predycatours and the poures he receyueth my owne self. 1556 Lauder Tractate 336 Quhilk nother techis ryche nor puris. 15.. Burgh Rec. Glasgow I. 395 (Jam. Suppl.) Sua that the gude toun nor nane resortand thairto sall be trublit with thair puris. |
d. possessive
poor's (in
sing. or
pl. sense). Now
rare exc. dial.| c 1412 Hoccleve De Reg. Princ. 4893 Þat your hye dygnite..No desdein haue of þe pores sentence. a 1425 Cursor M. 19766 (Trin.) To sewe þe pores cloþing. a 1656 Hales Gold. Rem. iii. Serm., etc. (1673) 16 It is the poors money, and the Talent of thy Lord which thou hidest under the ground. 1844 A. Page Suppl. Kirby's Suffolk Trav. 799 The poor's estate comprises a cottage..and 13 A. 3 R. 7 P. of land. Sc. dial. She is now in the Poor's-house. |
III. Combinations and Phrases.
8. Qualifying a
n. in special collocations:
poor boy (sandwich) Southern U.S., a large sandwich containing a wide variety of simple but substantial ingredients;
poor child, a pupil at a charity school (
child n. 4);
poor Clares, an order of nuns (see
Clare);
poor debtor (see
debtor 1 c);
poor do U.S., a dish made up of scraps of food; a hash;
poor mouth v. trans. and intr., (
a) to claim to be poor; to make demands (on someone) alleging poverty; (
b) to deprecate, make little of (something); so
poor-mouthing vbl. n.;
to make (put on, etc.) a poor mouth; see
mouth n. 3 m;
to talk poor-mouth (
U.S.), to plead poverty;
poor preachers,
poor priests, an order of itinerant preaching clergy founded by Wyclif;
poor relation, a relative or kinsman in humble circumstances (also
transf.);
† poor Robin n., an almanack (from the title of
Poor Robin's Almanack, first published in 1661 or 1662);
v. intr. (with
it), to play the part of ‘poor Robin’ (? in allusion to
Poor Robin's Jests,
c 1669, or one of various works with similar titles);
poor vicar (see
vicar);
poor white (see
white n.). See also
Poor John,
poor man.
| 1952 New Orleans Item 28 Feb. 17/5 'Way back yonder when a *poorboy sandwich was just that—namely, a five-cent filling of bread, meat and mixed pickles for a poor boy. 1954 Newsweek 15 Mar. 99 In the South, a poor boy is a frankfurter in a long bun. 1962 E. Wason Cooks, Gluttons & Gourmets 271 Eventually they became known..as ‘poor boy’ sandwiches, as they are called in New Orleans to this day. 1968 Amer. Speech 1967 XLII. 286 A term [for sandwich] which is used primarily in the South is poor boy... The usual interpretation of this term is that those who eat the sandwich are in the lower social and economic classes. 1976 National Observer (U.S.) 6 Nov., Exploring Greenwich Village, I found Poor Boys, salami and cheese and chili peppers on great hunks of Italian bread. |
| 1706 *Poor children [see child n. 4]. 1714 J. Walker Suff. Clergy ii. 214/2 Educated at Queen's-College in Oxford; where he became successively Poor Child, Taberder, Fellow and Proctor. |
| 1909 Pioneer Days in Southwest 1850–1879 253 When we had hogmeat we would fry a few pieces, take the grease and crumble corn bread in it, putting in water and salt, and we had a pot of soup called ‘*poor doo’. 1913 H. Kephart Our Southern Highlanders 292 The old Germans taught their Scotch and English neighbors the merits of scrapple, but here it is known as poor-do. 1965 Lebende Sprachen X. 37/1, I am intrigued..by the abundance of ‘poor’ edibles which we have in the States...poor-do is scrapple, etc. |
| 1967 Webster Add., *Poor mouth v. 1968 New Yorker 21 Sept. 169 [Eugene] McCarthy's advertising campaign, despite the McCarthy camp's constant poor-mouthing on the subject, wasn't exactly modest. 1970 Globe & Mail (Toronto) 26 Sept. 9/1 Six months ago, it was sacrilegious to poormouth the fight against air pollution. It was akin to being against motherhood. 1972 T. Ardies This Suitcase xvi. 176 What prompted the Professor to start poor mouthing me? 1972 Time 17 Apr. 25/1 Some democrats..are already poor-mouthing his victory. 1976 Times Lit. Suppl. 26 Mar. 339/2 The latter [book] came to be poormouthed by its author as ‘a literary exercise’. |
| 1941 in H. Wentworth Amer. Dial. Dict. (1944) 469/1 College professors are supposed to talk *po' mouth. 1961 Newsweek 14 Aug. 15/1 Because they are politicians, they like to talk as poor-mouth as the lowliest voter. 1965 N.Y. Times 29 July 16 It is hard to talk poor mouth just after the papers have written of your daughter's coming-out party for 2,000 guests. 1978 R. Thomas Chinaman's Chance xv. 168 My teeth hurt whenever you start talking poormouth. |
| 1968 Guardian 28 Jan. 16/8 *Poor-mouthing at home feeds the doubts of foreigners abroad..and gloomy prognostications from abroad in turn further depress the spirits of the British. 1969 ‘R. Macdonald’ Goodbye Look xxviii. 163 She became a bit of a miser... Her poor-mouthing actually had me convinced. But of course she'd been quite wealthy all along. |
| c 1380 in Wyclif's Wks. (1880) 245 (title) Whi *pore prestis han none benefice. Ibid. 248 Ȝit þouȝ pore prestis myȝtten frely geten presentacion of lordis to haue benefices wiþ cure of soulis. 1880 F. D. Matthew ibid. Pref. 16 Wyclif's aim in instituting the poor priests was to supply the defects of the existing parsons, who too often, after collecting their tithes and dues,..left their flock without preaching or spiritual instruction. |
| 1720 Defoe Capt. Singleton 338 Seeing..he had some *poor Relations in England..he would write to know..what Condition they were in. 1748 Smollett Rod. Rand. I. i. 1 My father..fell in love with a poor relation..whom he privately espoused. 1804 Coleridge Lett. II. 475 You sometimes see thirty or forty together of these our poor relations [monkeys]. 1823 Lamb Elia Ser. ii. Poor Relations, A Poor Relation—is the most irrelevant thing in nature,—a piece of impertinent correspondency,—an odious approximation,—a haunting conscience,—a preposterous shadow, lengthening in the noontide of your prosperity. 1898 Westm. Gaz. 16 July 2/1 The discarded ones [clothes]..were not sold. They were bestowed on the Poor Relation. 1906 J. M. Synge Lett. to Molly (1971) 13, I dont like hanging about their house as a poor relation. 1962 Rep. Comm. Broadcasting 1960 26 in Parl. Papers 1961–2 (Cmnd. 1753) IX. 259 The suggestion or fear that sound radio was becoming the ‘poor relation’ of broadcasting. 1970 J. Earl Tuners & Amplifiers ii. 36 Most attention..is usually focused on to the f.m. department where the quality potential truly exists, the a.m. department of a composite model then being very much a ‘poor relation’. 1972 Guardian 14 Jan. 11/1 In many cases servicing and spare parts were the poor relations subsidised by sales. 1977 D. Francis Risk viii. 100 Novice hurdles were customarily first or last..the poor-relation races for the mediocre majority. 1978 J. Symons Blackheath Poisonings i. 28 He resented..the mother who had inconsiderately died and left him a poor relation. |
| 1682 T. Flatman Heraclitus Ridens No. 82 (1713) II. 251, I never *Poor-Robin'd it, I never fasten'd upon any notorious Servant of the City, the Name of Sir Thomas Creswel, upon the score of any private Immoralities. 1716 Gentlem. Instructed (ed. 6) 120, She discern'd..a Feast from a Feria, without the Help of poor Robin. |
9. General
Combs. a. Attributive (from the
absol. or
n. use), Of or for the poor, as
poor-hour,
poor-money,
poor-relief,
poor-school.
b. Objective, as
poor-bettering,
poor-feeding adjs. c. Parasynthetic and adverbial, as
poor-ass (
U.S.),
poor-blooded,
poor-charactered,
poor-clad,
poor-looking,
poor-minded,
poor-sighted adjs.| 1957 J. Kerouac On Road (1958) 113 Find out just what he's *poor-ass pondering about this year's turnip greens. 1970 R. D. Abrahams Positively Black iii. 72 Colored man went to the store and bought him one of them poor-ass damned roosters. 1973 E. Bullins Theme is Blackness 163 I'm only a weak little old pore/ass black woman. |
| 1818 Bentham Ch. Eng. 90 note, The objection, urged against that system.., in the name of the *Poor-bettering Society. |
| 1889 W. F. Rae Austrian Health Resorts 71 *Poor-blooded patients may indulge in a little old red wine. |
| 1654 Gataker Disc. Apol. 80 He might produce..a *poor Charactered man, to do something for them. |
| a 1586 Sidney Arcadia (1622) 82 To heare The *poore-clad truth of loues wrong-ordred lot. 1902 Westm. Gaz. 6 Dec. 7/1 Shivering, starving, poor-clad men and boys. |
| 1657 J. Watts Vind. Ch. Eng. 265 Is it not to deal our bread unto the hungry, etc., *poor-feeding fasts? |
| 1897 H. Drummond Ideal Life 68 The soul-sick had to take their turn like the out-patients at the *poor-hour outside the infirmary. |
| 1799 Malthus Diary 11 July (1966) 139 Saw some *poor-looking houses. 1847 E. Smith Jrnl. 13 Jan. (1980) 116 Poor looking house with three rooms. |
| 1622 Dekker & Massinger Virgin Martyr ii. i, To..give your *poor-minded rascally servants the lie! |
| 1796 J. Benson in Mem. (1822) 295 The choice of stewards to manage the *poor-money. |
| 1898 Dublin Rev. Jan. 131 Questions of property, capital, labour, and *poor-relief. |
| 1857 G. Oliver Collect. Hist. Cath. Relig. in Cornwall, etc. 427 He established a *poor-school on the premises. 1901 Westm. Gaz. 10 Dec. 3/2 In the poor-schools where the bairns get more warmth..than anywhere else. |
| 1898 J. D. Rees in 19th Cent. June 1023 These beasts [elephants] are very *poor sighted, though their noses are extremely good. |
10. Special
Combs.:
† poor and rich, name of some game;
poor-basket, a basket containing material from which clothes for the poor could be made;
poor-chest = poor-box;
poor-farm (
U.S.), ‘a farm maintained at public expense for the housing and support of paupers’ (
Cent. Dict.);
poor-fellow v. trans. (
nonce-wd.), to address commiseratingly as ‘poor fellow’ (
cf. 6);
poor-master (
U.S.), a parish or county officer who superintends the relief and maintenance of paupers;
† poor-tax (also
poor's tax), a tax for the relief of the poor, a poor-rate;
poor-thing v. trans. (
nonce-wd.), to speak of or address as ‘poor thing’ (
cf. poor-fellow);
poor-work, work done to provide clothes etc. for the poor. See also
poor-book, -box, etc.
| 1621 J. Taylor (Water P.) Motto D iv, At Nouum, Mumchance, mischance,.. or at *Poore and rich. |
| 1814 Jane Austen Mansf. Park I. vii. 147 If you have no work of your own, I can supply you from the *poor⁓basket. |
| 1612 W. Parkes Curtaine-Dr. (1876) 67 Hadst thou a gainefull hand a rich *poore-chest. |
| 1852 J. W. Gunnison Hist. Mormons 145 A *Poor Farm of forty acres is in the centre, controlled by the bishops. 1895 A. Brown Meadow-Grass 168 The latter had actually taken to her bed..announcing that ‘she'd rather go to the poor-farm and done with it than resk her life there another night’. 1949 Chicago Tribune 2 Dec. 20/7 It used to be a disgrace to go to the ‘poor farm’ and be cared for by the rest of society. 1961 N. Lofts House at Old Vine vi. vi. 380 I've thought about what I owed you... You'd have fared better at the Poor Farm! |
| 1889 G. Huntington in Chicago Advance 31 Jan., Now don't *poor-fellow me, or imagine that I find life a bore. |
| 1883 American VI. 40 When he spares both undertaker and *poor-master further trouble. 18.. Amer. Mission. XXXIX. 8 (Cent.) The Agent of the United States to the Sioux Indians was to act as a sort of national poor⁓master, and deal out rations. |
| 1721 Berkeley Prev. Ruin Gt. Brit. Wks. 1871 III. 198 If the *poor-tax..was fixed at a medium in every parish. 1793 Friendly Address to Poor 3 The Poor's Tax is much increased in every part of the kingdom. |
| 1860 New Virginians II. 9 In my inexperience I ‘*poor thinged’ her from the bottom of my heart. |
| 1854 C. M. Yonge Castle Builders v. 69 Each good lady had a great basket full of *poor-work. 1876 Monthly Packet Feb. App. 5 The Sisters at Kilburn are glad to have ‘poor work’ done for them, and..will provide the material. |
▪ II. poor, v. Forms: see
prec. adj. [f. poor a. Cf. OF. pouverir to impoverish (Froissart).] † 1. intr. To become poor.
Obs. rare.
| c 1275 Digby MS. 86 lf. 126/1 Now þou art riche, and now þou pouerest [rime couerest]. |
† 2. trans. To make poor, impoverish.
Obs.| c 1380 Wyclif Sel. Wks. I. 216 Þus ben lordis and rewmes poorid. c 1450 in 3rd Rep. Hist. MSS. Comm. (1872) 280/2 Thus is he riched, the kynge pouered. c 1470 Henry Wallace xi. 43 This land is purd off fud that suld ws beild. a 1500 Priests of Peblis in Pinkerton Scot. Poems (1792) I. 14 Your tennants..ar puird: And, quhan that thay ar puird, than are ye pure. |
3. To call ‘poor’ (
poor a. 6).
nonce-use.
| 1865 Dickens Mut. Fr. i. iv, Miss Lavinia..put in that she didn't want to be ‘poored by pa’, or anybody else. 1868 Helps Realmah viii. (1869) 227 Don't ‘poor’ me, Sir. Nobody ever ‘poored’ me before. |