| The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language: Fourth Edition. 2000. |
| |
| famine |
| |
| SYLLABICATION: | fam·ine |
| PRONUNCIATION: |  f m  n |
| NOUN: | 1. A drastic, wide-reaching food shortage. 2. A drastic shortage; a dearth. 3. Severe hunger; starvation. 4. Archaic Extreme appetite. | | ETYMOLOGY: | Middle English, from Old French, from faim, hunger, from Vulgar Latin *fam na, from Latin fam s.
| | |
| |
| The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition. Copyright © 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by the Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved. |
|
|
