hunger
From Wiktionary, the free dictionary
See also: Hunger
English
Pronunciation
- (Received Pronunciation) IPA(key): /ˈhʌŋɡə/
- (General American) IPA(key): /ˈhʌŋɡɚ/
Audio (General American): (file) - Rhymes: -ʌŋɡə(ɹ)
- Hyphenation: hun‧ger
Etymology 1
From Middle English hunger, from Old English hungor (“hunger, desire; famine”), from Proto-West Germanic *hungr, from Proto-Germanic *hungruz, *hunhruz (“hunger”), from Proto-Indo-European *kenk- (“to burn, smart, desire, hunger, thirst”).
Cognate with West Frisian honger, hûnger (“hunger”), Dutch honger (“hunger”), German Low German Hunger (“hunger”), German Hunger (“hunger”), Swedish hunger (“hunger”), Icelandic hungur (“hunger”).
Noun
hunger (countable and uncountable, plural hungers)
- A need or compelling desire for food.
- (by extension) Any strong desire or need.
- I have a hunger to win.
- 1596, Edmund Spenser, “Book V, Canto XII”, in The Faerie Queene. […], London: […] [John Wolfe] for William Ponsonbie, →OCLC, stanza 1:
- O sacred hunger of ambitious minds!
- 2003, “What Up Gangsta”, in Curtis Jackson, Rob Tewlow (lyrics), Reef Tewlow (music), Get Rich or Die Tryin', performed by 50 Cent, New York City: Shady Records:
- When gangsters bump my shit, can they feel my hunger?
- 2025 February 6, Angelica Evans, “Ukraine’s Kursk Incursion: Six Month Assessment”, in Ukraine Project, Institute for the Study of War:
- Putin's unwillingness to declare another partial reserve call up has created a wider manpower hunger in the Russian military and border service, and Putin alone maintains the ability to remedy this issue.
Usage notes
The phrase be hungry is more common than have hunger to express a need for food.
Antonyms
Derived terms
- air hunger
- anti-hunger
- enhunger
- father hunger
- from hunger
- hunger is a good sauce
- hunger is the best pickle
- hunger is the best sauce
- hunger is the best seasoning
- hunger is the best spice
- hunger knock
- hungerless
- hunger moon
- hunger pain
- hunger-pain
- hunger pang
- hunger sauce
- hungersome
- hunger stone
- hunger strike
- hungry
- ravenous hunger
- shell hunger
- skin hunger
Translations
need for food
| ||||||
strong desire
|
See also
Etymology 2
From Middle English hungren, from Old English hyngran, hyngrian, ġehyngrian (“to be hungry”), from Proto-West Germanic *hungrijan, from Proto-Germanic *hungrijaną.
Verb
hunger (third-person singular simple present hungers, present participle hungering, simple past and past participle hungered)
- (intransitive) To be in need of food.
- 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Romans 12:20:
- Therefore if thine enemie hunger, feed him: if he thirst, giue him drink. For in so doing thou shalt heape coales of fire on his head.
- (figuratively, intransitive, usually with 'for' or 'after') To have a desire (for); to long; to yearn.
- I hungered for your love.
- 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Matthew 5:6:
- Blessed are they which doe hunger and thirst after righteousnesse: for they shall be filled.
- 1993, The The, Love Is Stronger Than Death:
- In our lives we hunger for those we cannot touch.
- (archaic, transitive) To make hungry; to famish.
Derived terms
Translations
need food
|
desire
|
References
- “hunger”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.
Anagrams
Danish
Etymology
Noun
hunger c (singular definite hungeren, not used in plural form)
- (dated, occasionally humorous) hunger
- Synonym: sult
- (figurative) a strong urge; a longing (for something)
Declension
| common gender |
singular | |
|---|---|---|
| indefinite | definite | |
| nominative | hunger | hungeren |
| genitive | hungers | hungerens |
Derived terms
- hungersnød
- hungerkatastrofe
- hungerramt
- livshunger
- ulvehunger
- hungersnødsramt
Related terms
Further reading
- “hunger” in Den Danske Ordbog
German
Verb
hunger
- inflection of hungern:
Middle English
Alternative forms
Etymology
From Old English hungor, from Proto-West Germanic *hungr, from Proto-Germanic *hungruz.
Pronunciation
Noun
hunger (uncountable)
- Hungriness; the feeling of being hungry or requiring satiation.
- Hunger; a great lack or death of food or nutrition.
- p. 1154, “AD 1137”, in Anglo-Saxon Chronicle (MS. Laud Misc. 636, continuation), Peterborough, folio 89, verso; republished at Oxford: Digital Bodleian, 2018 February 8:
- Mani þusen hi drapen mid hungær.
- Many thousands they overcame with hunger.
- A shortage of food in a region or country; widespread hunger.
- a. 1382, John Wycliffe, “2 Paralipomenon 6:28”, in Wycliffe's Bible:
- If hungur riſiþ in þe lond and peſtilence and ruſt and wynd diſtriynge cornes and a locuste and bꝛuke comeþ and if enemyes biſegen þe ȝatis of þe citee aftir þat þe cuntreis ben diſtried and al veniaunce and ſikenesse oppꝛeſſiþ […]
- If hunger rises in the land, and pestilence, rust, wind, destroying grain, and locusts and their young come, and if enemies besiege a city's gates after the city's surrounds are ruined, and when any destruction and disease oppresses (people) […]
- Hunger as a metaphorical individual; the force of hunger.
- (rare) Any strong drive or compulsion.
Derived terms
Descendants
References
- “hunger, n.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007, retrieved 2018-09-19.
Middle High German
Etymology
From Old High German hungar, from Proto-West Germanic *hungr, from Proto-Germanic *hungruz, from Proto-Indo-European *kenk-.
Pronunciation
Noun
hunger m
- famine
- hunger (need for food)
- (figurative) hunger (strong desire)
Declension
Declension of hunger (sg-only strong masculine without umlaut)
Descendants
References
- Benecke, Georg Friedrich, Müller, Wilhelm, Zarncke, Friedrich (1863) “hunger”, in Mittelhochdeutsches Wörterbuch: mit Benutzung des Nachlasses von Benecke, Stuttgart: S. Hirzel
- "hunger" in Köbler, Gerhard, Mittelhochdeutsches Wörterbuch (3rd edition 2014)
North Frisian
Alternative forms
- honger (Föhr-Amrum)
- Hunger (Sylt)
Etymology
from Old Frisian hunger, from Proto-West Germanic *hungr, from Proto-Germanic *hungruz.
Noun
hunger m
Norwegian Bokmål
Etymology
From Old Norse hungr, from Proto-Germanic *hunhruz.
Noun
hunger m (definite singular hungeren, uncountable)
Synonyms
Derived terms
- hungersnød (“famine”)
Related terms
References
- “hunger” in The Bokmål Dictionary.
Norwegian Nynorsk
Etymology
Noun
hunger m (definite singular hungeren) (uncountable)
Synonyms
Derived terms
Related terms
References
- “hunger” in The Nynorsk Dictionary.
Swedish
Etymology
From Old Norse hungr, from Proto-Germanic *hunhruz.
Pronunciation
Audio: (file)
Noun
hunger c (uncountable)
- hunger
- att känna hunger
- to feel hunger
Declension
| nominative | genitive | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| singular | indefinite | hunger | hungers |
| definite | hungern | hungerns | |
| plural | indefinite | — | — |
| definite | — | — |
Derived terms
Related terms
See also
- törst (“thirst”)
References
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