Empobrecer

Empobrecer is a verb used in Spanish and Portuguese with related meanings: to render someone or something poorer, or to become poor. In both languages, the term is commonly employed in economic, social, and political contexts to describe a process that reduces wealth or living standards.

Etymology and meaning. The word is formed from a base related to poverty combined with a suffix that signals causation or change in condition. It denotes an action that causes poverty in others (transitive use) or a change of state in the subject (intransitive reflexive form empobrecerse in Spanish, empobrecer-se in Portuguese). The sense ranges from general impoverishment of populations to more specific declines in income, resources, or social conditions.

Conjugation and usage notes. In Spanish, empobrecer is a regular -cer verb with a spelling change in the first-person singular present: empobrezco. Key forms include empobrezco, empobreces, empobrece, empobrecemos, empobrecéis, empobrecen; pretérito perfecto simple: empobrecí, empobreciste, empobreció, empobrecimos, empobrecisteis, empobrecieron; and the reflexive form empobrecerse to mean “to become poor.” In Portuguese, the verb follows regular -ecer conjugation patterns: eu empobreço, tu empobreces, ele empobrece, nós empobrecemos, vós empobreceis, eles empobrecem; pretérito perfeito: empobreci, empobreçeste, empobreceu, empobrecemos, empobreçestes, empobreceram. Common usage pairs the verb with objects or clauses describing causes or consequences, e.g., “La crisis empobreció a la población” or “A crise empobreceu a população.” The antonym is enriquecer, meaning to enrich.

See also: impoverishment, poverty, economic decline.