famishment

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English[edit]

Etymology[edit]

From famish +‎ -ment.

Pronunciation[edit]

Noun[edit]

famishment (countable and uncountable, plural famishments)

  1. (now literary) The state or process of being famished.
    Synonyms: hunger, inanition, malnourishment, starvation
    • c. 1605, John Davies, “I said unto Laughter, what art thou mad?”, in Wittes Pilgrimage[1]:
      Sith you will not attend true Wisedoms Words,
      Laugh and bee fatt, sith al you touch is Gold,
      Though that foode your Soules famishment affordes.
    • 1838, Authentic Narrative of James Williams, an American Slave[2], Boston: Isaac Knapp, Appendix, page 106:
      [] among the French planters, the slaves are in a condition of almost utter famishment during the great portion of the year.
    • 1957, James Purdy, “The Pupil”, in The Complete Short Stories of James Purdy[3], New York: Liveright, published 2013, page 682:
      As the young Cuban tasted his flesh, his tropical appetite long depressed by the North American dryness suddenly revived, and brought to his mind the thought of his long famishment.
    • 1991, Ben Okri, The Famished Road[4], New York: Nan A. Talese, published 1992, Section 1, Book 5, Chapter 2, p. 329:
      He churned the emptiness of my stomach, and stirred the fury of my famishment.
  2. (obsolete) Famine.