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.
- 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
Derived terms
Translations
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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
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References
- “hunger”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.
Anagrams
Danish
Etymology
Noun
hunger
- (uncommon) hunger
Declension
common gender |
Singular | |
---|---|---|
indefinite | definite | |
nominative | hunger | hungeren |
genitive | hungers | hungerens |
Synonyms
Derived terms
German
Verb
hunger
- inflection of hungern:
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
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.
Norwegian Bokmål
Etymology
From Old Norse hungr, from Proto-Germanic *hunhruz.
Noun
hunger m (definite singular hungeren, uncountable)
Synonyms
Derived terms
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)
Declension
Declension of hunger | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
Uncountable | ||||
Indefinite | Definite | |||
Nominative | hunger | hungern | — | — |
Genitive | hungers | hungerns | — | — |
Derived terms
See also
- English 2-syllable words
- English terms with IPA pronunciation
- English terms with audio links
- Rhymes:English/ʌŋɡə(ɹ)
- Rhymes:English/ʌŋɡə(ɹ)/2 syllables
- English terms derived from Proto-Indo-European
- English terms derived from the Proto-Indo-European root *kenk-
- English terms inherited from Middle English
- English terms derived from Middle English
- English terms inherited from Old English
- English terms derived from Old English
- English terms inherited from Proto-West Germanic
- English terms derived from Proto-West Germanic
- English terms inherited from Proto-Germanic
- English terms derived from Proto-Germanic
- English lemmas
- English nouns
- English uncountable nouns
- English countable nouns
- English terms with usage examples
- English terms with quotations
- English verbs
- English intransitive verbs
- English terms with archaic senses
- English transitive verbs
- Danish terms inherited from Old Norse
- Danish terms derived from Old Norse
- Danish lemmas
- Danish nouns
- Danish terms with uncommon senses
- German non-lemma forms
- German verb forms
- Middle English terms inherited from Old English
- Middle English terms derived from Old English
- Middle English terms inherited from Proto-West Germanic
- Middle English terms derived from Proto-West Germanic
- Middle English terms inherited from Proto-Germanic
- Middle English terms derived from Proto-Germanic
- Middle English terms with IPA pronunciation
- Middle English lemmas
- Middle English nouns
- Middle English uncountable nouns
- Middle English terms with quotations
- Middle English terms with rare senses
- enm:Nutrition
- Norwegian Bokmål terms derived from Old Norse
- Norwegian Bokmål terms derived from Proto-Germanic
- Norwegian Bokmål lemmas
- Norwegian Bokmål nouns
- Norwegian Bokmål uncountable nouns
- Norwegian Bokmål masculine nouns
- Norwegian Nynorsk terms derived from Old Norse
- Norwegian Nynorsk lemmas
- Norwegian Nynorsk nouns
- Norwegian Nynorsk masculine nouns
- Norwegian Nynorsk uncountable nouns
- Swedish terms derived from Old Norse
- Swedish terms derived from Proto-Germanic
- Swedish terms with audio links
- Swedish lemmas
- Swedish nouns
- Swedish common-gender nouns
- Swedish uncountable nouns