famish

C2+ Topic:Cause, Change & Process

US /ˈfæmɪʃ/ UK /ˈfæmɪʃ/ See IPA manual

verb

Meanings

1

verb
to suffer or cause to suffer from extreme hunger

The shipwrecked sailors were left to famish on the raft.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

1 verb · to suffer or cause to... starve hunger

Opposites

satiate feed gorge sate

Word family

Derived forms famishedfamishment

Related forms famine

Etymology

From Middle English 'famishen', an extension of earlier 'famen', from Old French 'afamer', from Vulgar Latin '*affamāre', from Latin 'ad-' ('to') + 'famēs' ('hunger').

afamer Old French famēs Latin

View etymology graph ->

Topics

Cause, Change & Process Word Formation & Derivatives

# famish

**Type:** Word
**Level:** C2+
**Part of speech:** verb
**IPA (US):** ˈfæmɪʃ
**IPA (UK):** ˈfæmɪʃ

## Meanings
1. to suffer or cause to suffer from extreme hunger

## Examples
- The shipwrecked sailors were left to famish on the raft.

## Synonyms
- starve
- hunger

## Antonyms
- satiate
- feed
- gorge
- sate

## Derived Forms
- famished
- famishment

## Related Forms
- famine

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: afamer
- Root: famēs

## Etymology
From Middle English 'famishen', an extension of earlier 'famen', from Old French 'afamer', from Vulgar Latin '*affamāre', from Latin 'ad-' ('to') + 'famēs' ('hunger').

## AI Etymology
Famish comes from Middle English 'famishen', an extension of earlier 'famen', from Old French 'afamer', from Vulgar Latin '*affamāre', from Latin 'ad-' ('to') + 'famēs' ('hunger'). The etymological trail includes Old French afamer and Latin famēs. As a verb, famish means to suffer or cause to suffer from extreme hunger. The same family is visible in derived forms such as famished and famishment and related forms such as famine. The analysis is partly morphological, with the modern form built from the elements named in the history.

## Topics
- Cause, Change & Process
- Word Formation & Derivatives

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