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famine

UK/ˈfæm.ɪn/US/ˈfæm.ən/<!--MW-->
nounB2+Common in everyday speech and writing · #6,697 of 15,258leans written

Other forms: famines

A famine is a time when a whole region has almost nothing to eat. A great famine, famine relief, the famine spread.

The word has a technical definition now, with thresholds of hunger, malnutrition and death that must all be met before it is declared — declaring one unlocks aid, so the term is political as well as descriptive. Amartya Sen showed that famines happen without any fall in food supply.

Unknown authorUnknown author · Public domain

Definitions of famine

  1. 1nounfamineA time when a whole region has almost nothing to eat.B2+

    “Millions died in the famine after the rice harvest failed three years in a row.”

famine is a disaster.

Where it comes from

Middle French famine comes from Latin fames, hunger.

  1. Latin

    fames

  2. Middle French

    famine

  3. English, today

    famine

Borrowed from Middle French famine, itself from the root of Latin fames.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA

Practised in Nature & Weather

Practise this word

famine in the wild

  • The worst year of the famine was 1847, which became known as "Black '47".

    Great Famine (Ireland)

  • The population of Ireland on the eve of the famine was approximately 8.5 million; by 1901, it was 4.4 million.

    Great Famine (Ireland)

  • Every inhabited continent in the world has experienced a period of famine throughout history.

    Famine

  • In historical and modern data, the Americas have been among the least famine-affected regions globally.

    Famine

  • A widespread famine affected Ethiopia from 1983 to 1985.

    1983–1985 famine in Ethiopia

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From Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0. These sentences were written by other people about their own subjects; they are here to show the word at work, not as anybody’s opinion.

Related words

  • famine year