English
famine
Famine comes from Middle French famine, and goes back to Latin fames ‘hunger’.
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEfames‘hunger’
- Middle Frenchc. 1400–1600famine
- Englishearliest quotation 1831same form
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed
Earlier history uncertain.
Lineage
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEfames‘hunger’
- Middle Frenchc. 1400–1600famine
- Englishearliest quotation 1831same form
Earliest quotation: 1831, Of the Blood: “It was reserved for Christians to torture bread, the…”
Every English word from Latin fames
Today it means
noun Extreme shortage of food in a region.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Latin fames / famine