Etymology Explorer › English

Where does “famine” come from?

Famine comes from Middle French famine, meaning an extreme scarcity of food.

famine (English): Extreme shortage of food in a region; A period of...

Definitions

  1. Extreme shortage of food in a region; A period of...

Ancestry of “famine”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Middle Frenchfamine—
2Latinfamēs—
3Proto-Indo-EuropeandʰH-to disappear

Words derived from “famine”

  • prefamine
  • postfamine
  • antifamine
  • faminelike
Every word from Proto-Indo-European dʰH- →