poor mann.
/ˈpɔː man/, /ˈpʊə man/, U.S. /ˈpʊr ˌmæn/, /ˈpɔr ˌmæn/ 1. A man who is poor, esp. one who is indigent or needy; a pauper.
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the mind > possession > poverty > [noun] > poor person
poorc1225
poor man?c1225
beggar1340
goodlessa1350
poreleta1382
miserable1484
poor one1562
bankrupt?1563
indigent1563
poorling1581
poor snake1590
needling1608
desperviewa1640
have-nota1739
angishore1835
little worth1885
?c1225 (?a1200) Ancrene Riwle (Cleo. C.vi) (1972) 67 Ase þe þet seide to þe cnicht þe robbeð hise poure men.
a1300 (c1275) Physiologus (1991) 127 Feste ðe of stedefastnesse..& helpe ðe poure men ðe gangen abuten.
c1350 Apocalypse St. John: A Version (Harl. 874) (1961) 186 (MED) In at þoo þre ȝates may a pouere Man come þorouȝ hungere & þrest & colde.
c1400 (c1378) W. Langland Piers Plowman (Laud 581) (1869) B. viii. 16 Maistres of þe Menoures..knowen..Bothe prynces paleyses and pore mennes [c1400 C text poure menne] cotes.
c1450 Alphabet of Tales (1904) I. 9 (MED) How erte þou waxen riche so sodanlie, & within a while was bod a pure man?
a1475 Sidrak & Bokkus (Lansd.) (Ph.D. diss., Univ. of Washington) (1965) 1110 (MED) Deieth þe riche men also, As other pore men here do?
1548 W. Forrest Pleasaunt Poesye 582 in T. Starkey Eng. in Reign King Henry VIII (1878) i. p. xcviii And what hee onys into his clampis catche maye, The pooreman theareof no peece shall come bye.
1586 R. Lane in R. Hakluyt Principal Navigations (1889) 312 I haue..set downe vnto you, what my labour with the rest of the gentlemen, and poore men of our company..could yeeld vnto you.
1659 in F. Roberts & I. M. M. Macphail Dumbarton Common Good Accts. (1972) 237 Item to John Monteith, poorman, for a peck of meill to himselff, 8s.
1677 A. Yarranton England's Improvem. 169 But the poor Man is forced many times to buy his Materials he makes his Commodity with, of some of his own Trade.
1709 in J. S. Moore Goods & Chattels Forefathers (1976) 196 A peece of a poor man's kitchen, a latten Cullinder, an old Bench for potts to stand on.
1776 D. Garrick Let. 5 Oct. (1963) III. 1132 A very honest poor Man of Chelsea College has foolishly apply'd..to be rais'd from a pensioner at a penny a day to a..Serjeant.
1805 Ann. Reg., Chron. 396/2 Two youths, one 14 and the other 8 years of age, sons of a poor man.
1870 J. C. Duval Adventures Big-Foot Wallace xlvi. 306 You know the old saying, ‘A poor man for posterity, and a nigger for gourds.’
1936 C. Sandburg People, Yes lxiv. 164 Why did Death take the poor man's cow and the rich man's child.
1991 E. Lax Woody Allen i. 13 Isaac was a poor man living with Sarah in a cramped and dark apartment.
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the world > food and drink > food > dishes and prepared food > meat dishes > [noun] > mutton dishes
poor man of mutton1681
Oxford John1784
Irish stew1799
wobbler1823
navarin1877
Lancashire hotpot1898
navarin printanier1901
1681 S. Colvil Mock Poem ii. 8 Here lyes a pair of Shoes ne're put on, And there lyes a Poor Man of Mutton.
1739 in J. Colville Ochtertyre House Bk. of Accomps (1907) 245 Supper woodcocks rost..beefe collops and a poor man.
1819 W. Scott Bride of Lammermoor vi, in Tales of my Landlord 3rd Ser. II. 101 I should like well..to return to my sowens and my poor-man-of-mutton.
1892 R. Steuart Legends of North 39 I'm as hungry as ma neebours, an' could hae taen a bite o' a puir man finely.
3. Scottish. Frequently in form peerman. A simple device for holding a splinter of resinous wood or a fir candle, formerly the ordinary source of artificial light in farmhouses, barns, and cottages. Now historical.So called because in parts of north-eastern Scotland in earlier times paupers were reputed to have performed this function in return for alms or lodging.
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the world > matter > light > artificial light > an artificial light > torch > [noun] > staff or holder for
torch-staffa1616
poor man1866
torch-holder1874
1866 W. Gregor Dial. Banffshire (Philol. Soc.) 123 Peer-man, a candle-stick for candles made of bog-fir..with a cleft piece of iron into which the candle was fixed.
1870 W. Gregor Echo Olden Time N. Scotl. 20 Light was given either by pieces of bog-fir laid on the fire, or by fir-can'les, that is thin splinters of bog-fir, from one to two and a half or three feet long, fixed in a sort of candle-stick called the peer-man or peer-page.
1880–3 J. Linn in Trans. Inverness Sci. Soc. 2 342 It was from this [employment of a mendicant] that the stand on which the fir-candle..was fixed..got its name Peer-Man, Pure-Man, or Puir-Man, these being local pronunciations of Poor Man.
1914 ‘A. McS.’ Bishop ii. 11 Mair licht, lassies. Pit anidder rash i' the cruisie, or we'll need to get a ‘peer man’.
1987 J. Caspall Making Fire & Light vii. 203 By their function and design, peermen are readily distinguished from rushnips.
4. Chiefly New Zealand. More fully poorman orange. A small form of grapefruit, used chiefly for marmalade. Cf. poorman's orange n. at Compounds 2a.
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the world > plants > particular plants > cultivated or valued plants > particular food plant or plant product > particular types of fruit > [noun] > citrus fruit > lime
pome-adam1600
lime1638
Java lemon1831
poor man1912
the world > food and drink > food > fruit and vegetables > fruit or a fruit > citrus fruit > [noun] > grapefruit > types of
poorman's orange1851
Marsh1900
poor man1912
1912 Jrnl. Dept. Agric. N.Z. 4 141 He has several varieties all doing well, amongst them Paramatta, Poor Man, Navel.
1929 Jrnl. N.Z. Inst. Hort. 1 65 The Poorman Orange is really a Pomelo.
1966 Encycl. N.Z. I. 758/2 The main kinds of citrus grown commercially in New Zealand include..so-called New Zealand grapefruit (‘Poorman’ orange, selected strains).
1996 Advertiser (Adelaide) (Nexis) 11 July For at least three generations, my family has made Poorman marmalade each July or August.
Compounds
With poor man's or poor men's. C1.
poor man's box n. (also poor men's box) now historical = poor box n.
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society > trade and finance > money > place for keeping money > containers for money contributions > [noun] > for poor
alms disha1378
poor man's box1549
alms-basketc1560
poor chest1612
poor boxa1637
1549 Bk. Common Prayer (STC 16267) Svpper of the Lorde f. cxxvi So many as are disposed, shal offre vnto the poore mennes boxe.
1641 R. Brathwait Penitent Pilgrim xxxii. 152 Thou hast left nothing to give to the poor mans boxe?
1787 T. Sharp Rubric in Bk. Common Prayer 86 There are also provisions made, by Law, for the better maintenance of the poor, which may render the use of the poor mans box of less importance than it formerly was.
1834 Times 2/7 In 1547 a similar injunction was issued by Edward VI., only directing the penalty to be employed towards the poor man's box of the parish.
1999 Financial Services Advisor (Nexis) Jan.–Feb. 12 At every guild meeting the Poor Man's Box and the Dead Man's Box were passed around.
C2.
a. Denoting a cheaper, simpler, or inferior version of something, or a less satisfactory substitute for a specified thing.† poor man's parmacety n. Obsolete shepherd's purse, Capsella bursa-pastoris.† poor man's remedy n. English regional (northern) Obsolete wild valerian, Valeriana officinalis.
poor man's diggings n. (also occasionally poor man's digging) Mining colloquial (originally Australian) gold-bearing land which can be mined without substantial capital outlay, or on which large-scale commercial mining is not considered profitable, and which is thus available to be mined by individuals.
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the world > the earth > minerals > mineral deposits > [noun] > of alluvial gold
pocket1848
poor man's diggings1852
lead1855
1852 Bathurst (New S. Wales) Free Press 30 Oct. 3/2 [Tambaroora] These are the best poor man's diggings yet opened up.
1855 W. Howitt Land, Labour & Gold II. 226 You now hear Bendigo called the Poor Man's Digging.
1865 Evening Post (Wellington, N.Z.) No. 85. 3 They all described [the claims] as a ‘good poor man's diggings’.
1875 Chicago Tribune 14 Oct. 7/3 If it did pay, it would be what is called poor man's diggings, for it was no place where capital could be successfully employed.
1876 R. I. Dodge Black Hills 109 It has passed into a proverb that ‘placer’ mining is the poor man's diggings, while ‘quartz’ mining is only for the rich.
1924 Bedford (Pa.) Gaz. 30 May 6/3 ‘I've heard great yarns about Deadwood Gulch.’ ‘They overplay it... The gulch is certainly the poor man's diggings.’
1941 S. J. Baker Pop. Dict. Austral. Slang 56 Poor man's diggings, alluvial gold deposits, i.e., gold which a poor man can work, contrasting with reef-gold which requires capital to develop.
1998 S. Lawrence in A. B. Knapp et al. Social Approaches Industr. Past iii. 46 Dolly's Creek..was described at the time as a poor man's diggings.
poor man's mustard n. originally English regional garlic mustard or Jack-by-the-hedge, Alliaria petiolata.
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1886 J. Britten & R. Holland Dict. Eng. Plant-names 385 Poor Man's Mustard, Alliaria officinalis, Andrzj. Linc. (Bottesford).
1995 J. M. Sims-Kimbrey Wodds & Doggerybaw: Lincs. Dial. Dict. 230/2 Poor Man's Mustard, Jack-by-the-Hedge. (L. Alliaria petiolata).
2000 Detroit News (Nexis) 30 June (Two dot ed.) 1 c Also known as hedge garlic and poor man's mustard, garlic mustard has spread to 30 states.
poorman's orange n. chiefly New Zealand = sense 4.
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the world > plants > particular plants > cultivated or valued plants > particular food plant or plant product > particular types of fruit > [noun] > citrus fruit > grapefruit
pomelo1803
grapefruit1814
poorman's orange1851
sweetie1985
the world > food and drink > food > fruit and vegetables > fruit or a fruit > citrus fruit > [noun] > grapefruit > types of
poorman's orange1851
Marsh1900
poor man1912
1851 T. W. Shepherd Catal. Plants Darling Nursery, Sydney, New S. Wales 45 The Poor Man's Orange.—This orange was introduced a few years ago from Shanghai by Captain Simpson. . . Its bearing and growing qualities have not yet been sufficiently ascertained to warrant its recommendation for extensive planting.
1884 G. E. Alderton Treat. & Handbk. Orange-culture in Auckland 66 The Poor Man's Orange is only good for preserving.
1999 Dominion (Wellington, N.Z.) (Nexis) 12 Nov. 1 It was closer to a traditional Marsh grapefruit than the New Zealand grapefruit, which was really a ‘poor man's orange’ due to its colour and relative sweetness.
poor man's orchid n. = schizanthus n.; also butterfly flower.
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the world > plants > particular plants > cultivated or valued plants > particular cultivated or ornamental plants > particular flower or plant esteemed for flower > [noun] > non-British flowers > of south or tropical America
marvel of Peru1597
flower of the night1665
world's wonder1706
butterfly flower1731
mirabilis1754
four o'clock flower1756
bastard mustard1759
Browallia1782
bastard plantain1796
cleome1806
alonsoa1812
gloxinia1816
schizanthus1823
butterfly plant1825
petunia1825
sinningia1826
salpiglossis1827
mask flower1834
poinsettia1836
guaco1844
spiderwort1846
mist flower1848
balisier1858
spider flower1861
sun plant1862
eucharis1866
pretty-by-night1869
Rocky Mountain bee plant1870
urn-flower1891
tulip-poppy1909
smithiantha1917
poor man's orchid1922
ten o'clock1953
tiger-iris-
1922 Lima (Ohio) News & Times-Democrat 27 Sept. 7/4 Many improved varieties of the ‘poor man's orchid’ [sc. the iris] are now available.
1956 Pasadena (Calif.) Independent 17 June 15/2 Sutton's had selected three different mixtures of schizanthus, or Poor Man's Orchid.
1976 Hortus Third (L. H. Bailey Hortorium) 1018/1 Schizanthus... Butterfly Flower, poor-man's orchid.
1986 Woman's Day (Melbourne) 2 June 107/2 Another annual which is a delightful temporary house plant for winter and spring is poor man's orchid Schizanthus.
2002 Roanoke (Virginia) Times & World News (Nexis) 14 July d1 Often referred to as the ‘perfect perennial’ or the ‘poor man's orchid’, the day lily is one of the hardiest of its type.
2004 Jrnl. (Newcastle) (Nexis) 28 Feb. (Life section) 54 Try schizanthus (poor man's orchid), which is a beauty and grows easily from seed sown now with heat.
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the world > plants > particular plants > plants perceived as weeds or harmful plants > weed > [noun] > shepherd's purse
pursewortc1300
shepherd's pursea1400
case weeda1500
shepherd's bag1548
shepherd's pouch1568
shepherd's scrip1578
pickpurse1597
poor man's parmacety1597
toothwort1597
toywort1597
shepherd's pedler1811
pickpocket1854
1597 J. Gerard Herball ii. 215 Shepheardes purse or Scrip: of some..poore mans Parmacetie.
1657 W. Coles Adam in Eden xxxv. 71 Shepherds pouch and poor mans Parmacety, it being in some sort effectual for the same things that Parmacety is.
1864 All Year Round 6 Feb. 559/1 Capsella bursa pastoris has several names, such as pickpurse, clappedepouch, and poor man's parmacetty.
poor man's pepper n. any of various plants having a peppery taste; esp. (a) biting stonecrop, Sedum acre; (b) pepperwort ( Lepidium species), esp. dittander, L. latifolium.
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the world > food and drink > food > fruit and vegetables > vegetables > leaf vegetables > [noun] > cress
cressa700
town cresseOE
nasturtiumOE
watercressa1400
cresson1657
tongue-grass1726
poor man's pepper1738
mustard and cress1808
fen-cress1818
Para cress1857
the world > plants > particular plants > cultivated or valued plants > particular food plant or plant product > particular vegetables > [noun] > leaf vegetables > cress
cressa700
town cresseOE
fen-cressc1000
well-cressOE
nasturtiumOE
watercressc1300
garth-cress?14..
watercress?a1450
women's meadwort?a1450
garden cressa1500
peppergrass?a1500
nosewort1563
nosesmart1589
water-rocket1605
nosewort1608
well grassa1646
cresson1657
water grass1708
tongue-grass1726
poor man's pepper1738
marsh-rocket1739
passerage1879
1738 G. C. Deering Catalogus Stirpium 203 Wall-pepper, or Stone crop, by some called Poor Man's Pepper.
1796 W. Withering Arrangem. Brit. Plants (ed. 3) III. 567 Lepidium latifolium... Poor-man's Pepper, Common Dittander.
1832 E. Lankester Veg. Substances Food 195 Dittander..The leaves..are..hot and acrid..whence..the name of ‘poor man's pepper’.
1858 R. G. Mayne Expos. Lexicon Med. Sci. (1860) 1005/2 Poor Man's Pepper, a common name for the Polygonum hydropiper.
1886 J. Britten & R. Holland Dict. Eng. Plant-names Poor Man's Pepper, (1) Lepidium campestre. Warw. (2) Sedum acre. Notts.
1968 R. T. Peterson & M. McKenny Field Guide Wildflowers Northeastern & North-central N. Amer. 82 Poor-man's-pepper, Peppergrass. Lepidium virginicum.
1993 Toronto Star (Nexis) 2 May (Homes section) GG Shepherd's purse is also known as ‘poor man's pepper’, because the dried seed pods can be used as seasonings in soups and stews.
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the world > plants > particular plants > cultivated or valued plants > particular medicinal plants or parts > [noun] > valerian
valerianc1386
setwalla1400
spike celtic1540
capon's-tail1548
phu1562
poor man's remedy1657
spikenard1688
countryman's treacle1745–7
tobacco-root1845
1657 W. Coles Adam in Eden 220 Of Valerian... They never make any pottage or broath for any one that is sick, but they put some of this Herb therein, be the disease what it will, and is called of them, The Poor Mans Remedy.
poor man's salve n. English regional (Devon) either of two figworts, Scrophularia nodosa and S. auriculata.
ΚΠ
1886 J. Britten & R. Holland Dict. Eng. Plant-names 386 Poor Man's Salve, Scrophularia nodosa, L. and S. aquatica, L.—S.Dev.
1955 G. Grigson Englishman's Flora 298 Figwort... Poor Man's Salve, Dev[on].
poor man's sauce n. a vinaigrette dressing containing shallots.
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the world > food and drink > food > additive > sauce or dressing > [noun] > onion sauce
onion sauce1699
poor man's sauce1706
Soubise1822
1706 Phillips's New World of Words (new ed.) Poor-man's Sauce or Carrier's Sauce, Sauce made of a Shalot, cut very small, with Salt, white Pepper, Vinegar and Oil.
1794 M. Hazelmore Domest. Econ. xvi. 199 Poor Man's Sauce. Cut some young onions into water, with some chopped parsley. It is very good with roasted mutton.
1889 J. Whitehead Steward's Handbk. 395/1 Broiled partridges—May be served with poor man's sauce and Indian pickle.
1990 Adweek (U.S.) 1 Oct. 42 Also from Rowena's is Poor Man's Sauce, which was adapted from a recipe first published in 1759. Despite its name, the sauce is delicious.
poor man's torment n. U.S. rare a garden weed, (perhaps) yellow toadflax, Linaria vulgaris.
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the world > plants > particular plants > cultivated or valued plants > particular cultivated or ornamental plants > particular flower or plant esteemed for flower > [noun] > foxglove and allied flowers > snapdragon
calves'-snout1548
antirrhinum1551
snapdragon1573
lion's snap1597
lion's mouth1706
frog's mouth1754
dog's mouth1824
toad's mouth1839
Bunny Mouth1846
dragon's-mouth1857
bulldogs1861
poor man's torment1899
1899 W. Stevens Jrnl. 17 July in Lett. (1967) 28 Snap-dragon, or as it is vulgarly known: the weed—‘poor man's torment’ is a close-knit, yellow, tumbled sort of thing.
poor man's treacle n. (also occasionally poor men's treacle) now rare garlic (cf. treacle n. 1b).
ΚΠ
1578 H. Lyte tr. R. Dodoens Niewe Herball v. lxxi. 638 Garlyke..is good against all venome & poyson... Therefore Galen..called it poore mens Treacle.
1611 R. Cotgrave Dict. French & Eng. Tongues Ail, Garlicke, poore-mans Treacle.
1765 J. Kirkpatrick tr. S. A. D. Tissot Advice to People with Regard to Health xvii. 266 He may take three Doses a Day of the Theriaca Pauperum, or poor Man's Treacle.
1877 E. Leigh Gloss. Words Dial. Cheshire 158 Poor Man's, or Churl's, Treacle, Garlick. Allium.
1997 Gettysburg (Pa.) Times 16 Oct. a6/5 Garlic... Lily family. Also called; Poor-man's-treacle.
poor man's weather-glass n. scarlet pimpernel, Anagallis arvensis, the flowers of which close in dull or rainy conditions.
ΚΠ
1816 P. Keith Syst. Physiol. Bot. II. 315 The Anagallis arvensis, or Poor Man's Weather-glass.
1830 W. J. Hooker Brit. Flora 87 A[nagallis] arvénsis, Linn. (scarlet Pimpernel or Poor Man's Weatherglass).
1847 Nat. Cycl. I. 661 The Pimpernel, or ‘Poor Man's Weather-Glass’, so called because its flowers..refuse to expand in rainy weather.
1918 W. Graveson Brit. Wild Flowers (1919) xxii. 212 We will end our list of the flowers growing among the corn with the Scarlet Pimpernel—the Poor-Man's Weather-glass and the Shepherd's Warning of country folk.
1981 H. Leake & D. Leake Wildflowers of Ozarks 113 Scarlet Pimpernel (Anagallis arvensis)..its scientific name is Greek, meaning, ‘to delight in again from the field,’ referring to its habit of closing, when a cloud obscures the sun... For this reason it is called also ‘poor man's weatherglass’.
b. Used similarly in other compounds.
ΚΠ
1747 H. Glasse Art of Cookery ii. 43 Fasten one End of a String to the Chimney, and the other End to the Iron (this is what we call the poor Man's Spit).
1787 in T. E. DeVoe Market Bk. 181 As I have travelled thro' all the States, I will furnish the Bill of Fare:..Georgia, a poor-man's pudding with a glass of water.
1854 H. Melville in Harper's Mag. June 95/2 A cup of cold rain water..is called by housewives a ‘Poor Man's Egg’.
1868 G. G. Channing Recoll. Newport 25 I was fed entirely upon bread and milk, and whitepot..strictly a Rhode-Island dish, and sometimes called the ‘poor man's custard’.
1891 Tit-Bits 8 Aug. 277/2 There are thousands of costers who earn a livelihood by the sale of..mussels, which are regarded as the poor man's oyster.
1924 R. Lardner in Cosmopolitan July 60/2 Another nickname for the town [sc. St Petersburg, Florida] is the Poor Man's Palm Beach.
1971 Jrnl. Chem. Documentation 10 249/1 A general-purpose text-editing system can be a valuable ‘poor man's’ information-handling tool.
1994 Daily Tel. 23 July (Weekend Suppl.) 23 In the 1930s the Lancia was known as the ‘poor man's Rolls-Royce’.
2004 Philadelphia Inquirer 13 June a13/3 Defying meth's reputation elsewhere as ‘poor man's cocaine’, the version reaching the city is purer and pricier.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, December 2006; most recently modified version published online June 2022).
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n.?c1225