thirst

English

Etymology

From Old English þurst.

Pronunciation

• Audio (US)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɜː(r)st

Noun

thirst (plural thirsts)

1. A sensation of dryness in the throat associated with a craving for liquids, produced by deprivation of drink, or by some other cause (as fear, excitement, etc.) which arrests the secretion of the pharyngeal mucous membrane; hence, the condition producing this sensation.
   • 1918, Edgar Rice Burroughs, The Land That Time Forgot Chapter IV

     "We haven't one chance for life in a hundred thousand if we don't find food and water upon Caprona. This water coming out of the cliff is not salt; but neither is it fit to drink, though each of us has drunk. It is fair to assume that inland the river is fed by pure streams, that there are fruits and herbs and game. Shall we lie out here and die of thirst and starvation with a land of plenty possibly only a few hundred yards away? We have the means for navigating a subterranean river. Are we too cowardly to utilize this means?"

2. (figurative) A want and eager desire after anything; a craving or longing; — usually with for, of, or after; as, the thirst for gold.

Synonyms

• (figurative): craving, longing

Translations

dryness

• Abkhaz: please add this translation if you can
• Afrikaans: dors (af)
• Albanian: etje (sq) f, et (sq) m
• Amharic: please add this translation if you can
• Arabic: عطش (ar) (3áTash) m
• Aragonese: please add this translation if you can
• Armenian: ծարավ (hy) (çarav)
• Aromanian: seate (rup) f
• Assamese: please add this translation if you can
• Asturian: sede (ast) f
• Aymara: please add this translation if you can
• Azeri: susuzluq (az)
• Bashkir: please add this translation if you can
• Basque: egarria (eu)
• Belarusian: прага (be) (praha)
• Bengali: তৃষ্ণা (bn) (tr̥ṣṇā)
• Breton: please add this translation if you can
• Bulgarian: жажда (bg) (zhazhda)
• Burmese: please add this translation if you can
• Campidanese Sardinian: sidi f
• Catalan: set (ca) f
• Central Atlas Tamazight: ⴼⴰⴷ (fad)
• Chechen: please add this translation if you can
• Cherokee: ᎣᏔᏕᎩᏍᎩ (chr) (otadegisgi)
• Chichewa: please add this translation if you can
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 口渴 (cmn) (kǒukě)

• Corsican: please add this translation if you can
• Croatian: žeda (cs) f
• Czech: žízeň (cs) f
• Dalmatian: sait f
• Danish: tørst (da)
• Dhivehi: please add this translation if you can
• Dutch: dorst (nl)
• Esperanto: soifo (eo)
• Estonian: janu (et)
• Ewe: please add this translation if you can
• Extremaduran: please add this translation if you can
• Faroese: tosti (fo) m
• Finnish: jano (fi)
• French: soif (fr) f
• Friulian: sêt f
• Galician: sede (gl) f
• Georgian: წყურვილი (ka) (tsqurvili)
• German: Durst (de) m
• Greek: δίψα (el) (dípsa) f
• Gujarati: તરસ (gu) (tarasa)
• Haitian Creole: swaf dlo
• Hausa: please add this translation if you can
• Hawaiian: make wai
• Hebrew: צמא (he) (tzama) m, צימאון (he) (tzimaon) m
• Hindi: प्यास (hi) (pyās) f
• Hungarian: szomjúság (hu), szomj (hu)
• Icelandic: þorsti (is)
• Ido: dursto (io)
• Igbo: please add this translation if you can
• Indonesian: haus (id)
• Interlingua: please add this translation if you can
• Interlingue: please add this translation if you can
• Irish: tart (ga) m
• Italian: sete (it) f
• Japanese: 喉の渇き (ja) (のどのかわき, nodo-no kawaki), 口渇 (ja) (こうかつ, kōkatsu), 渇 (ja) (かつ, katsu)
• Kannada: ಬಾಯಾರಿಕೆ (kn) (bāyārike)
• Kazakh: please add this translation if you can
• Khmer: ការស្រេក (km) (kaa sreɛk)
• Kinyarwanda: please add this translation if you can

• Kirundi: please add this translation if you can
• Korean: 목마름 (ko) (mokmareum), 갈증 (ko) (galjeung) (渴症 (ko))
• Kurdish:

  Sorani: تینو (ku) (tinu)

• Kyrgyz: please add this translation if you can
• Lao: please add this translation if you can
• Latin: sitis (la) f
• Latvian: slāpes (lv)
• Lithuanian: troškulys (lt) m
• Luganda: please add this translation if you can
• Luxembourgish: Duuscht (lb) m
• Macedonian: жед (mk) (žed)
• Malay: kehausan (ms), kedahagaan (ms)
• Malayalam: ദാഹം (ml) (dāham)
• Manx: paays (gv)
• Marathi: please add this translation if you can
• Mirandese: please add this translation if you can
• Nepali: please add this translation if you can
• Norwegian: tørste (no)
• Novial: please add this translation if you can
• Occitan: set (oc) f
• Old Norse: þorsti m
• Oriya: please add this translation if you can
• Pashto: please add this translation if you can
• Persian: تشنگی (fa) (tešnegi)
• Polish: pragnienie (pl) n
• Portuguese: sede (pt) f
• Punjabi: please add this translation if you can
• Rajasthani: please add this translation if you can
• Romanian: sete (ro) f
• Romansch: said (rm), set (rm)
• Russian: жажда (ru) (žážda) f
• Sardinian: side (sc), sidi (sc)
• Scots: please add this translation if you can
• Scottish Gaelic: pathadh (gd) m
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: жеђ (sh) f, жеда (sh) f

  Roman: žeđ (sh) f, žeda (sh) f

• Sicilian: siti (scn) f
• Sindhi: please add this translation if you can
• Sinhalese: please add this translation if you can
• Slovak: smäd (sk) m
• Slovene: žeja (sl)
• Somali: please add this translation if you can
• Spanish: sed (es) f
• Swedish: törst (sv)
• Tamil: தாகம் (ta) (tākam)
• Telugu: దాహం (te) (dāhaM)
• Tibetan: please add this translation if you can
• Turkish: susuzluk (tr)
• Turkmen: please add this translation if you can
• Tuvan: please add this translation if you can
• Ukrainian: спрага (uk) (spraha)
• Urdu: پیاس (ur) (pyās) f
• Uyghur: please add this translation if you can
• Uzbek: please add this translation if you can
• Vietnamese: sự khát nước (vi)
• Volapük: please add this translation if you can
• Walloon: please add this translation if you can
• Welsh: please add this translation if you can
• West Frisian: toarst (fy) c
• Wolof: please add this translation if you can
• Xhosa: please add this translation if you can
•  !Xóõ: ǁʻân
• Yiddish: דאָרשט (yi) (dʼárşt)
• Yoruba: please add this translation if you can
• Zulu: please add this translation if you can

figurative

• Asturian: sede (ast) f
• Catalan: set (ca) f
• Finnish: jano (fi), himo (fi)
• French: soif (fr) f
• Galician: sede (gl) f
• Italian: avidità (it) f
• Kannada: ಡಿಸೈರ್ (kn)
• Lithuanian: troškulys (lt) m, troškimas (lt) m

• Polish: pragnienie (pl) n
• Portuguese: sede (pt) f
• Russian: жажда (ru) (žážda) f
• Sanskrit: तृष्णा (sa) f
• Spanish: sed (es) f, hambre (es) f, ambición (es) f, ansias (es) pl
• Swedish: törst (sv) c
• Turkish: susuzluk (tr), açlık (tr)
• Urdu: پیاس (ur) (pyās) f

See also

• hunger

Verb

thirst (third-person singular simple present thirsts, present participle thirsting, simple past and past participle thirsted)

1. To be thirsty.
   • Bible, Exodus xvii. 3

     The people thirsted there for water.

2. To desire.
   • Bible, Psalms xlii. 2

     My soul thirsteth for […] the living God.

   I thirst for knowledge and education will sate me.

Translations

to desire

• French: désirer (fr)
• German: dürsten (de)
• Greek: διψάω (el) (dipsáo)
• Latin: sitīre (la)
• Lithuanian: trokšti (lt)

• Polish: pragnąć (pl), być spragnionym
• Portuguese: ter sede (pt)
• Russian: жаждать (ru) (žáždat') impf.
• Spanish: desear (es), ansiar (es), ambicionar (es)
• Swedish: törsta (sv)

to be thirsty

• Danish: tørste (da)
• Egyptian: b

• Faroese: tysta (fo)
• French: avoir soif (fr)
• German: dürsten (de) (rare), Durst haben
• Greek: διψάω (el) (dipsáo)
• Latin: sitīre (la)

• Lithuanian: trokšti (lt)
• Norwegian: tørste (no)
• Polish: być spragnionym (pl)
• Portuguese: ter sede (pt), estar com sede (pt)
• Quechua: ch'akichikuy (qu)
• Spanish: tener sed
• Swedish: törsta (sv)

External links

• thirst in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913
• thirst in The Century Dictionary, The Century Co., New York, 1911

Anagrams

• T-shirt, t-shirt