poor law
1
9.9
- noun
- Archaic
:
ley de pobres
- A poor law commission active between 1902-1905 investigated the circumstances of paupers in 1901.
Examples
-
The worst feature of poverty was that it made its victims subject to the will of others—either to the rich who gave alms or to the parish commissioners who administered the poor law.
Academic text (1993) -
Most of the homes established during the period of expansion before 1930 continued to exist, but growth stagnated after the advent of social security and reform of the poor laws.
Academic text (1992) -
And this was the man who was the same in both faces with the new Poor Law and with the sanitary report.
-
The subsequent reform of New York poor laws concerning the elderly, in turn, helped pave the way for the Social Security Act of 1935.
Academic text (1992) -
The United States clung to a tradition of poor laws that harked back 350 years to Elizabethan England.
Blog text (12) -
According to the Icelandic medieval poor law, family and kin had extensive obligations to provide for destitute relatives.
Academic text (1993) -
The local community was bound together by the parish and its church, the poor-law system, and the two local manors and their administration of the free-and copyhold of Earls Colne.
Academic text (1995) -
The English poor law established workhouses to assist those in need during the 19th century.
-
Historically, the poor law provided necessary support to individuals unable to support themselves.
-
Many cities had their own poor laws that dictated how to care for the destitute and homeless.
Surface Forms
Morphology
The compound is a straightforward adjective + noun composition where 'poor' describes whom the 'law' concerns, so a B1 learner who knows both words can infer it means a law for poor people or providing relief. Although it can refer to specific historical British legislation, that specificity does not prevent a learner from deriving the general meaning from the constituents.
Etymology
Poor law literally meant a law for the poor. In old England, towns made rules about how to give food, money, or work to people in need, so poor law came to mean a law that provides 'relief' to the poor.