hunger

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)

1. A need or compelling desire for food.
2. (by extension) Any strong desire.

   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?

Usage notes

The phrase be hungry is more common than have hunger to express a need for food.

Antonyms

• satiety
• satiation

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

• Abkhaz: амла (amla)
• Afar: luwa
• Aghwan: 𐔱𐕒𐕡𐕚 (bus)
• Akan: ɔkɔm
• Albanian: uri (sq) f
• Andi: моко (moko)
• Arabic: جُوع m (jūʕ)

  Egyptian Arabic: جوع m (ḡūʕ)

  Gulf Arabic: يوع m (yūʕ)

• Aragonese: fambre (an)
• Armenian: քաղց (hy) (kʻaġcʻ), սով (hy) (sov)
• Aromanian: foami f
• Assamese: ভোক (bhük)
• Asturian: fame f
• Avar: ракъи (raqxʼi)
• Azerbaijani: aclıq (az)
• Bashkir: аслыҡ (aslıq)
• Basque: gose
• Belarusian: го́лад (be) m (hólad)
• Bengali: খিদা (bn) (khida), ভুখ (bn) (bhukh), ক্ষুধা (bn) (khudha), ভুক (bhuk)
• Breton: naon (br) m
• Bulgarian: глад (bg) m (glad)
• Burmese: အငတ် (my) (a.ngat), အဆာ (my) (a.hca)
• Carpathian Rusyn: го́лод m (hólod)
• Catalan: gana (ca) f, fam (ca) m
• Cebuano: gutom
• Central Atlas Tamazight: ⵍⴰⵥ (laẓ)
• Chechen: мацалла (macalla)
• Chichewa: njala
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 飢餓／饥饿 (zh) (jī'è)

• Chukchi: гытъатгыргын (gytʺatgyrgyn)
• Chuvash: выҫӑ (vyś̬ă), выҫлӑх (vyślăh)
• Coptic: ϩⲕⲟ (hko)
• Cornish: nown m
• Czech: hlad (cs) m
• Dalmatian: fum m
• Danish: sult (da)
• Dutch: honger (nl) m, trek (nl)
• Egyptian: (ḥqr)
• Esperanto: malsato
• Estonian: nälg
• Even: дьэмкэн (ʒəmkən)
• Evenki: дему (ʒemu)
• Faroese: hungur m or n, svongd f, svultur m
• Finnish: nälkä (fi)
• French: faim (fr) f
• Friulian: fan f
• Galician: fame (gl) f, fame negra (gl) f, larota f, gatuza f, larica f, garula f, farca f, carpulla f, garita f
• Georgian: შიმშილი (šimšili)
• German: Hunger (de) m
• Gothic: 𐌷𐌿𐌷𐍂𐌿𐍃 m (hūhrus)
• Greek: πείνα (el) f (peína) (daily/ordinary need of food), λιγούρα f (ligoúra) (desperate need of food), σιτοδεία f (sitodeía), ασιτία f (asitía) (scarcity of food due to natural disaster), λιμός m (limós) (scarcity of food due to war)

  Ancient: πεῖνα f (peîna), λιμός m (limós)

• Greenlandic: please add this translation if you can
• Hadza: házze
• Haitian Creole: grangou
• Hebrew: רָעָב (he) m (ra'áv)
• Hindi: भूख (hi) f (bhūkh)
• Hungarian: éhség (hu)
• Icelandic: hungur (is) n, sultur (is) m
• Ido: hungro (io)
• Indonesian: lapar (id)
• Ingrian: nälkä
• Ingush: мецавалар (mecavalar)
• Interlingua: fame (ia)
• Irish: ocras (ga) m
• Istriot: fan
• Istro-Romanian: fome
• Italian: fame (it) f
• Japanese: 飢え (ja) (うえ, ue), 空腹 (ja) (くうふく, kūfuku), 飢餓 (ja) (きが, kiga)
• Kabuverdianu: fómi
• Kapampangan: danup, keranupan
• Kazakh: аштық (aştyq)
• Khakas: ас (as)
• Khalaj: âç
• Kikuyu: ng'aragu class 9
• Korean: 굶주림 (ko) (gumjurim), 배고픔 (ko) (baegopeum)
• Kurdish:

  Central Kurdish: برسێتی (birsêtî)

  Northern Kurdish: birçîtî (ku)

• Kyrgyz: ачтык (ky) (actık)
• Latgalian: olkonums, bods
• Latin: famēs f
• Latvian: bads m
• Lingala: nzala
• Lithuanian: alkis (lt) m
• Lombard: famm (lmo)
• Louisiana Creole French: fim, gran-gou
• Luxembourgish: Honger m
• Macedonian: глад m (glad)
• Malay: lapar (ms)
• Maltese: ġuħ (mt) m
• Manx: accrys m
• Maranao: gotem
• Marathi: भूख (bhūkh)
• Mongolian: өлсгөлөн (mn) (ölsgölön)
• Navajo: dichin
• Nepali: भोक (bhok)
• Norman: fôim f (Guernsey)
• Northern Sami: nealgi
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: sult (no) m, hunger (no) m

  Nynorsk: svolt m, hunger m

• Occitan: fam (oc)
• Odia: ଭୋକ (or) (bhoka)
• Old Church Slavonic:

  Cyrillic: гладъ m (gladŭ)

• Old East Slavic: голодъ m (golodŭ)
• Old English: hungor m
• Old High German: hungar m
• Old Norse: hungr n
• Old Turkic: 𐰀𐰲𐰾𐰴 (āčsïq)
• Ossetian: стонг (stong)
• Ottoman Turkish: آجلق (aclık)
• Papiamentu: hamber
• Pashto: لوږه f (lwᶕɀa)
• Persian: گرسنگی (fa) (gorosnegi)
• Plautdietsch: Hunga m
• Polish: głód (pl) m
• Portuguese: fome (pt) f
• Quechua: yarqay
• Rohingya: búk
• Romagnol: fâm f
• Romani: bok
• Romanian: foame (ro) f
• Romansch: fom
• Russian: го́лод (ru) m (gólod)
• Saho: luwa
• Sango: nzala (sg)
• Sanskrit: बुभुक्षा (sa) f (bubhukṣā)
• Sardinian: fàmene
• Scottish Gaelic: acras m
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: глад m

  Roman: glad (sh) m

• Sicilian: fami (scn)
• Sindhi: بک (sd)
• Slovak: hlad (sk) m
• Slovene: lakota (sl) f
• Somali: gaajo
• Sorbian:

  Lower Sorbian: głod m

  Upper Sorbian: hłód m

• Southern Altai: ач (ač)
• Spanish: hambre (es) f, carpanta (es) f (colloquial), gazuza (es) f (colloquial), gusa f (Spain, colloquial), hambrina f (great or extreme hunger), fambre (es) f, fiaca (es) f (intense hunger, Uruguay), marceada (es) f (excessive hunger, El Salvador), hambreada (es) f (excessive hunger)
• Sranan Tongo: angri
• Swahili: njaa (sw), unenge (sw)
• Swedish: hunger (sv)
• Tajik: гуруснагӣ (tg) (gurusnagi)
• Tamil: பசி (ta) (paci)
• Tatar: ачлык (tt) (açlıq)
• Telugu: ఆకలి (te) (ākali)
• Tetum: laha, hamlaha
• Thai: ความหิว (th) (kwaam-hǐu)
• Tibetan: please add this translation if you can
• Tocharian B: kest
• Tumbuka: njala
• Turkish: açlık (tr), aç (tr)
• Turkmen: açlyk (tk), aaçlyk
• Tuvan: аш (aş)
• Ugaritic: 𐎗𐎙𐎁𐎐 (rġbn)
• Ukrainian: го́лод m (hólod)
• Urdu: بھوک f (bhūk)
• Uyghur: ئاچلىق (achliq)
• Uzbek: ochlik (uz)
• Venetan: fan f
• Vietnamese: đói (vi)
• Votic: ńältše
• Walloon: fwin (wa) f
• Welsh: newyn m
• West Frisian: honger, hûnger
• Yakut: аас (aas)
• Yiddish: הונגער m (hunger)

strong desire

• Arabic: رَغْبَة f (raḡba), تَعَطُّش m (taʕaṭṭuš)
• Bulgarian: жа́жда (bg) f (žážda)
• Catalan: set (ca) f
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 渴望 (zh) (kěwàng)

• Finnish: himo (fi), nälkä (fi)
• French: soif (fr) f
• Galician: debezo m, prango m, degoro (gl) m, sede (gl) f, puxo m, degoxo (gl) f, arela (gl) f, gorromela f, enrónica f, engolemia f, anguria f
• Greek: λαχτάρα (el) f (lachtára), πόθος (el) m (póthos), πείνα (el) f (peína)
• Irish: ocras (ga) m, anrachán m
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: hunger (no) m

  Nynorsk: hunger m

• Polish: żądza (pl) f
• Portuguese: sede (pt) f
• Russian: жа́жда (ru) f (žážda)
• Spanish: sed (es) f, anhelo (es) m, acucia (es) f
• Swahili: njaa (sw), unenge (sw)
• Swedish: hunger (sv)

See also

• thirst

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)

1. (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.

2. (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.

3. (archaic, transitive) To make hungry; to famish.

Derived terms

• ahungered/anhungered
• forhungered

Translations

need food

• Arabic: جَاعَ (jāʕa)
• Asturian: tener fame, tar esfamiáu
• Bulgarian: гладувам (bg) (gladuvam)
• Cherokee: ᎤᏲᏏᎭ (uyosiha)
• Coptic: ϩⲕⲟ (hko)
• Czech: hladovět (cs)
• Dutch: honger hebben (nl) , hongeren (nl)
• Esperanto: malsati
• Finnish: nähdä nälkää
• French: avoir faim
• German: hungern (de), Hunger haben, hungrig sein
• Gothic: 𐌷𐌿𐌲𐌲𐍂𐌾𐌰𐌽 (huggrjan)
• Greek: πεινώ (el) (peinó)

  Ancient: πεινάω (peináō)

• Ido: hungrar (io)
• Irish: ocras (ga)
• Italian: avere fame
• Japanese: 飢える (ja) (ueru)
• Karakhanid: ااجْماقْ (āčmaq)
• Kurdish:

  Central Kurdish: برسی (birsî)

• Latin: ēsuriō (la)
• Louisiana Creole French: fim
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: sulte (no)

  Nynorsk: svelte

• Old Church Slavonic: алкати (alkati)
• Old Prussian: alkautwei
• Old Turkic: 𐰀𐰲 (āč-)
• Plautdietsch: hungrich sennen
• Polish: łaknąć (pl) impf, głodować (pl) impf
• Portuguese: ter fome
• Romanian: fie foame (ro) (with dative)
• Russian: проголода́ться (ru) (progolodátʹsja), голода́ть (ru) (golodátʹ)
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: гладо̀вати

  Roman: gladòvati (sh)

• Spanish: tener hambre, hambrear (es)
• Swahili: kuwa na njaa (sw)
• Swedish: hungra (sv)
• Turkish: acıkmak (tr)
• Vietnamese: bị đói
• Yakut: аас (aas)

desire

• Bulgarian: жадувам (bg) (žaduvam)
• Dutch: verlangen
• Finnish: himoita (fi), isota (fi) (archaic)
• French: avoir soif
• Greek: ποθώ (el) (pothó), λαχταρώ (el) (lachtaró)

  Ancient: πεινάω (peináō)

• Japanese: 飢える (ja) (ueru)
• Norwegian: hungre
• Old Church Slavonic: алкати (alkati)
• Polish: łaknąć (pl) impf, pożądać (pl) impf, pragnąć (pl) impf
• Portuguese: desejar (pt)
• Russian: жа́ждать (ru) impf (žáždatʹ), алкать (ru) (alkatʹ)
• Spanish: tener sed, amalayar (es), anhelar (es), ambicionar (es)
• Swedish: hungra (sv)
• Vietnamese: thèm (vi)

References

• “hunger”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.

Anagrams

• rehung

Danish

Etymology

From Old Norse hungr

Noun

hunger

1. (uncommon) hunger

Declension

Declension of hunger

common gender	Singular
	indefinite	definite
nominative	hunger	hungeren
genitive	hungers	hungerens

Synonyms

• sult

Derived terms

• hungersnød

German

Verb

hunger

1. inflection of hungern:
   1. first-person singular present
   2. singular imperative

Middle English

Alternative forms

• (Early ME) hunngerr, hungor, hungær
• hunguer, honguer, honger, hungre, hongre, hungere, hongur, hounger, hounguer, hungir, hungyr, hungur

Etymology

From Old English hungor, from Proto-West Germanic *hungr, from Proto-Germanic *hungruz.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈhunɡər/, [ˈhuŋɡər]

Noun

hunger (uncountable)

1. Hungriness; the feeling of being hungry or requiring satiation.
2. 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.

3. 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) […]

4. Hunger as a metaphorical individual; the force of hunger.
5. (rare) Any strong drive or compulsion.

Derived terms

• hungren
• hungry
• hungrylych

Descendants

• English: hunger
• Scots: hounger, hunger

References

• “hunger, n.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007, retrieved 2018-09-19.

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

1. (Mooring) hunger

Norwegian Bokmål

Etymology

From Old Norse hungr, from Proto-Germanic *hunhruz.

Noun

hunger m (definite singular hungeren, uncountable)

1. hunger

Synonyms

• sult

Derived terms

• hungersnød (“famine”)

Related terms

• hungrig

References

• “hunger” in The Bokmål Dictionary.

Norwegian Nynorsk

Etymology

From Old Norse hungr.

Noun

hunger m (definite singular hungeren) (uncountable)

1. hunger

Synonyms

• svolt

Derived terms

• hungersnaud, hungersnød

Related terms

• hungrig

References

• “hunger” in The Nynorsk Dictionary.

Swedish

Etymology

From Old Norse hungr, from Proto-Germanic *hunhruz.

Pronunciation

• Audio:

  (file)

Noun

hunger c (uncountable)

1. hunger

   att känna hunger

   to feel hunger

Declension

Declension of hunger

		nominative	genitive
singular	indefinite	hunger	hungers
	definite	hungern	hungerns
plural	indefinite	—	—
	definite	—	—

Derived terms

• lufthunger

Related terms

• hungrig (“hungry”)
• hungra (“to hunger”)

See also

• törst (“thirst”)

References

• hunger in Svensk ordbok (SO)
• hunger in Svenska Akademiens ordlista (SAOL)
• hunger in Svenska Akademiens ordbok (SAOB)