Etymology Explorer › English

Where does “hungry” come from?

Hungry comes from Old English hungriġ, from Old High German hungar, from Proto-Germanic *hungar-az, from Proto-Indo-European *kenk-, meaning to lack or be deficient.

hungry (English): Affected by hunger; desiring of food; having a...

Definitions

  1. Affected by hunger; desiring of food; having a...

Ancestry of “hungry”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Middle EnglishHungry—
2Old Englishhungriġ—
3Proto-Germanichungragazhungry
4Proto-Germanichungruzhunger
5Proto-GermanichunhruzAlternative form of *hungruz
6Proto-Indo-Europeankenk-to burn, dry, pain, desire, hunger, thirst; to...

Words derived from “hungry”

  • hungriness
  • nonhungry
  • bloodhungry
  • ahungry
  • cumhungry
  • anhungry
  • hungri
  • hangre
  • hanggre
  • angre
Every word from Proto-Indo-European kenk- →