English
famish
Famish comes from Old French afamer ‘to starve’, and goes back to Latin famēs ‘hunger’.
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEfamēs‘hunger’
- Old Frenchc. 842–1400afamer‘to starve’
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500famisshe
- Englishearliest quotation c. 1588–1593famish
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed
Earlier history uncertain.
Lineage
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEfamēs‘hunger’
- Old Frenchc. 842–1400afamer‘to starve’
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500famisshe
- Englishearliest quotation c. 1588–1593famish
Earliest quotation: c. 1588–1593, William Shakespeare, London: […] Iohn Danter: “Some ſay that Rauens foſter forlorne children, / The…”
Linked words
through Latin famēs ‘hunger’
Today it means
verb To starve (to death); to kill or destroy with hunger.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Latin famēs / famish