First Known Use: 14th century
Dictionary
famine
noun fam·ine \ˈfa-mən\
: a situation in which many people do not have enough food to eat
Full Definition of FAMINE
1
: an extreme scarcity of food
2
archaic : starvation
3
archaic : a ravenous appetite
4
: a great shortage
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Origin of FAMINE
Middle English, from Anglo-French, from feim, faim hunger, from Latin fames
Related to FAMINE
- Synonyms
- crunch, dearth, deficit, drought (also drouth), failure, deficiency, inadequacy, inadequateness, insufficiency, lack, lacuna, paucity, pinch, poverty, scantiness, scarceness, scarcity, shortage, undersupply, want
FAMINE Defined for Kids
famine
noun fam·ine \ˈfa-mən\
Definition of FAMINE for Kids
: a very great shortage of food that affects many people over a wide area
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