pauper

noun

pau·​per ˈpȯ-pər How to pronounce pauper (audio)
1
: a person destitute of means except such as are derived from charity
specifically : one who receives aid from funds designated for the poor
paupers on welfare
2
: a very poor person
you'll end up a pauper on skid rowRobert Bixby
pauperism noun

Examples of pauper in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web Both included searchable lists of people buried in Hinds County’s pauper’s field. Jon Schuppe, NBC News, 22 Feb. 2024 Civil rights attorney Ben Crump is calling for a federal investigation on behalf of the families of 215 people found buried in a pauper’s cemetery behind a jail near Jackson, Mississippi without their relatives’ knowledge. Melissa Noel, Essence, 17 Jan. 2024 Officials in Jackson, Mississippi, have come under fire this year for a string of cases, revealed by NBC News, in which the Hinds County coroner buried people in a pauper’s cemetery without notifying their families. Mike Hixenbaugh, NBC News, 19 Dec. 2023 Crump wants to know why officials failed to investigate these deaths and did not try to contact next of kin, rather than burying them in a pauper’s grave near a dirt road by the Hinds County Penal Farm, which is about 15 miles west of downtown Jackson. Melissa Noel, Essence, 17 Jan. 2024 Well, in the portal’s early weeks, the Bruins have been closer to paupers given all the transfer targets who committed elsewhere. Ben Bolch, Los Angeles Times, 19 Dec. 2023 As with Hankins, Wade's and Moore's deaths were handled by the Jackson Police Department and Hinds County Coroner's Office, which failed to notify their families and buried them in the pauper's field. Chris Eberhart, Fox News, 12 Dec. 2023 These guidelines are common in American law enforcement, but Jackson did not have a policy until recently, after a local mother shared the story of her son getting run over by a police car and being buried in a pauper’s grave without her knowing. Jon Schuppe, NBC News, 29 Nov. 2023 Then, on July 14, inmates at the county penal farm had buried his remains in a pauper’s field. Jon Schuppe, NBC News, 23 Nov. 2023

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'pauper.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

Etymology

Latin, poor — more at poor

First Known Use

1516, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Time Traveler
The first known use of pauper was in 1516

Dictionary Entries Near pauper

Cite this Entry

“Pauper.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/pauper. Accessed 19 Mar. 2024.

Kids Definition

pauper

noun
pau·​per ˈpȯ-pər How to pronounce pauper (audio)
: a very poor person
especially : one supported by charity
pauperism noun
pauperize
-ˌrīz
verb

Legal Definition

pauper

noun
pau·​per ˈpȯ-pər How to pronounce pauper (audio)
: a person who is destitute and relying on charity
specifically : a person who is relieved of the costs and expenses of a court proceeding because of poverty

More from Merriam-Webster on pauper

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