hunger

See also Hunger

English

Pronunciation

• Audio (US)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ʌŋɡə(r)

Etymology 1

From Middle English hunger, from Old English hungor (“hunger, desire; famine”), from Proto-Germanic *hungruz, *hunhruz (“hunger”), from Proto-Indo-European *kenk- (“to burn, smart, desire, hunger, thirst”). Compare Dutch honger, German and Low German Hunger, Swedish hunger.

Noun

hunger (plural hungers)

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

   I have a hunger to win.

Usage notes

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

Antonyms

• satiety
• satiation

Derived terms

• hunger is the best spice

Translations

need for food

• Arabic: جوع (ar) (jūʿ) m
• Armenian: քաղց (hy) (k'aġc'), սով (hy) (sov)
• Aromanian: foame (rup)
• Asturian: fame (ast) f
• Azeri: aclıq (az)
• Belarusian: голад (be) (hólad) m
• Bulgarian: глад (bg) (glad) m
• Catalan: gana (ca) f, fam (ca) m
• Central Atlas Tamazight: ⵍⴰⵥ (laẓ)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 飢餓 (cmn), 饥饿 (cmn) (jī'è)

• Czech: hlad (cs) m
• Dalmatian: fum m
• Danish: sult (da)
• Dutch: honger (nl) m, trek (nl)
• Esperanto: malsato (eo)
• Finnish: nälkä (fi)
• French: faim (fr) f
• Friulian: fan
• German: Hunger (de) m
• Greek:

  Daily/ordinary need of food: πείνα (pína) f

  Desperate need of food: λιγούρα (liɣúra) f

  Scarcity of food due to war: λιμός (limós) m

  Scarcity of food due to natural disaster: σιτοδεία (sitoðía) f, ασιτία (asitía) f

• Haitian Creole: grangou
• Hebrew: רָעָב (he) (ra'áv) m
• Hindi: भूख (hi) (bhūkh) f
• Hungarian: éhség (hu)
• Icelandic: hungur (is) n, sultur (is) m
• Interlingua: fame (ia)
• Irish: ocras (ga) m
• 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)
• Kazakh: аштық (kk) (aştıq)
• Korean: 굶주림 (ko) (guljurim), 배고픔 (ko) (baegopeum)
• Kurdish:

  Sorani: برسێتی (ku)

• Kyrgyz: ачтык (ky) (açtıq)
• Latin: fames (la) f
• Latvian: bads (lv) m

• Lithuanian: alkis (lt) m
• Macedonian: глад (mk) (glad) m
• Manx: accrys (gv) m
• Marathi: भूख (mr)
• Navajo: dichin
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: sult (no) m, hunger (nb) m

  Nynorsk: svolt (nn) m, hunger (nn) m

• Occitan: fam (oc)
• Old English: hungor (ang) m
• Old High German: hungar m
• Old Norse: hungr n
• Persian: گرسنگی (fa) (gorosnegi)
• Polish: głód (pl) m
• Portuguese: fome (pt) f
• Rohingya: búk
• Romani: bok
• Romanian: foame (ro) f
• Romansch: fom (rm)
• Russian: голод (ru) (gólod) m
• Sanskrit: बुभुक्षा (sa) (bubhuksha)
• Sardinian: fàmene (sc)
• Scottish Gaelic: acras (gd) m
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: глад (sh) m

  Roman: glad (sh) m

• Slovak: hlad (sk) m
• Slovene: glad (sl) m
• Spanish: hambre (es) f
• Swahili: njaa (sw), unenge (sw)
• Swedish: hunger (sv)
• Tajik: гуруснагӣ (tg) (gurusnagī)
• Tatar: ачлык (tt) (açlıq)
• Telugu: ఆకలి (te) (aakali)
• Thai: ความหิว (th) (kwaam hĭw)
• Turkish: açlık (tr)
• Turkmen: açlyk (tk), aaçlyk (tk)
• Ukrainian: голод (uk) (hólod) m
• Urdu: بھوک (ur) (bhūk) f
• Uzbek: ochlik (uz)
• Vietnamese: đói (vi)

strong desire

• Arabic: رغبة (ar) (ráġba) f
• Finnish: himo (fi), nälkä (fi)
• French: soif (fr) f
• Greek: λαχτάρα (el) (lakhtára) f, πόθος (el) (póthos) m, πείνα (el) (pína) f
• Irish: ocras (ga) m

• Norwegian: hunger (no) m
• Russian: жажда (ru) (žážda) f
• Spanish: sed (es) f
• Swahili: njaa (sw), unenge (sw)

See also

• thirst

Etymology 2

From Old English hyngran.

Verb

hunger (third-person singular simple present hungers, present participle hungering, simple past and past participle hungered)

1. To be in need of food.
2. (figuratively) To have a desire (for); to long; to yearn.

   I hungered for your love.

   • Bible, Matthew v. 6

     Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness.

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

Translations

need food

• Asturian: tener fame, tar esfamiáu
• Czech: hladovět (cs)
• Dutch: honger hebben, hongeren
• Esperanto: malsati (eo)
• Finnish: nähdä nälkää (fi)
• French: avoir faim
• German: hungern (de)
• Greek: πεινώ (el) (peinó)
• Italian: avere fame
• Japanese: 飢える (ja) (ueru)

• Kurdish:

  Sorani: برسی (ku)

• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: sulte (no)

  Nynorsk: svelte (nn)

• Portuguese: ter fome
• Serbo-Croatian: gladovati (sh)
• Spanish: tener hambre
• Swahili: njaa (sw), unenge (sw)

desire

• Finnish: himoita (fi), isota (fi) (archaic)
• French: avoir soif
• Greek: ποθώ (el) (pothó), λαχταρώ (el) (lachtaró)
• Japanese: 飢える (ja) (ueru)
• Norwegian: hungre (no)

• Portuguese: desejo (pt)
• Russian: жаждать (ru) (žáždat') impf.
• Spanish: tener sed
• Swahili: njaa (sw), unenge (sw)

References

• hunger in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913

Anagrams

• rehung

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German

Verb

hunger

1. First-person singular present of hungern.
2. Imperative singular of hungern.

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Norwegian Bokmål

Etymology

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

Noun

hunger m (definite singular hungeren; uncountable)

1. hunger (desire)

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Swedish

Etymology

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

Pronunciation

• audio

  (file)

Noun

hunger c (uncountable)

1. hunger

Declension

Declension of hunger

	uncountable		uncountable
Common	indefinite	definite
nominative	hunger	hungern
genitive	hungers	hungerns

See also

• hungrig
• hungra