noun

famine

FAM-in/ˈfæmɪn/

An extreme shortage of food causing widespread hunger.

Prolonged drought brings famine to villages that depend on local crops.

A depleted communal food store serves several visibly hungry people: a worker scrapes the last few grains from a large empty bin while waiting adults and children hold empty bowls.

Etymology

Latin fames covered both hunger and famine, linking the bodily experience of having too little to eat with the widespread food shortage that causes it.

In context

Echoes of the British Crown27:29

… the famine is not just a tragedy, it is a verdict. The empire can move divisions across oceans, but cannot, or will not, move food fast enough to stop mass death …

Lord Linlithgow: Viceroy of India Navigating War, Reform, and Empire

More examples

Emergency food deliveries help prevent famine after the harvest fails.
Thousands of families flee the region as famine spreads.
Wars can trigger famines by disrupting farming and trade.

Forms

famine · famines

Similar words

starvation: Emphasizes bodily suffering from insufficient food, not the widespread shortage.
shortage: Can involve any resource and need not cause widespread hunger.