famine

Definition

Extreme shortage of food in a region.

Etymology

Borrowed from Middle French famine, itself from the root of Latin fames. Cognate with Spanish hambruna (“famine”).

Example Sentences

• "It was reserved for Christians to torture bread, the staff of life, bread for which children in whole districts wail, bread, the gift of pasture to the poor, bread, for want of which thousands of our fellow beings annually perish by famine; it was reserved for Christians to torture the material of bread by fire, to create a chemical and maddening poison, burning up the brain and brutalizing the soul, and producing evils to humanity, in comparison of which, war, pestilence, and famine, cease to be evils."
• "Dr. Bhatia pointed out that famine had occurred in all ages and in all societies where means of communication and transport were not developed."
• "1986, United States Congress, House Select Committee on Hunger, Committee on Foreign Affairs, Subcommittee on Africa, Famine and Recovery in Africa The root causes of the current famine are known: poverty, low health standards...."