Taxonomy of meanings for 餓:　　

  • 餓 è (OC: ŋaals MC: ŋɑ) 五个切 去 廣韻：【不飽也五个切一 】
    • HUNGRY
      • nabeventfamine
      • v[adN]nonreferentialthe famished
      • vadNstarved; starving; desperately hungry
      • vadV(die) by starvation
      • vistarve; be extremely hungry, be famished (on a given occasion); suffer famine (ERYA: especially because of lack of grain)
      • actstarve oneself
      • vtoNcausativecause oneself to be famished; cause oneself to starve
      • nabstarvingLZ
    • KILL
      • vi+N{PLACE}starve to death at Npl
      • vtoNcausative(cause to starve>) starve (someone); to starve (someone) to death

    Additional information about 餓

    說文解字: 【餓】，飢也。从食、我聲。 【五箇切】

      Criteria
    • HUNGRY

      1. The most common current and general word for insufficiency of food supplies is probably jī 飢 (ant. bǎo 飽 "have eaten enough"), and this word refers to any such insufficiency, temporary or lasting, serious or minor. Presumably, the word can also refer to insufficiency of food among animals.

      2. È 餓 refers to famine as a serious condition threatening the lives of the persons involved.

      3. Jǐn 殣 refers to serious famine often resulting in death.

      4. Jī 饑 (NOT ANCIENTLY HOMOPHONOUS WITH 飢 in ancient Chinese), and the rarer jín 饉 as well as the very rare qiàn 歉 refer to insufficiency of food as a result of bad harvest.

      5. Něi 餒 refers to the state of being hungry in an individual, and at a certain time.

    • KILL

      1. The overwhelmingly dominant term referring to any form of taking the life of anything is shā 殺.

      2. Some words specify the range of objects murdered: Thus shì 弒 refers to the killing of a reigning ruler, zhū 誅 and yí 夷 refer to the killing of a convicted criminal; zǎi 宰 and tú3 屠 refer primarily to the slaughtering of animals for the purpose of food production.

      3. Some words specify the number of objects killed: yí 夷, zú 族, jiān 殲 tú 屠 (when applied to humans) refer to the killing of groups of people. See PUNISHMENT. The other words refer normally to the killing of one person or a specified set of several persons.

      4. Some words specify modes of killing: cì 刺 is to murder by stabbing with a pointed object, typically a dagger; liè 裂 and jiě 解 refer to dismembering by a wide variety of methods; zhèn 鴆 refers to poisoning; jǐng 剄 refers to cutting the throat; xī 腊 refers to killing followed by making a person into minced meat; rèn 刃 is to kill with a sword; jiǎo 絞 and yì 縊 refer to strangulation, è4 mèi 扼昧 and refer to strangulation; è 餓 can refer to starving someone to death. For a more detailed account of the varieties of death penalties in ancient China see PUNISHMENT.

      Word relations
    • Result: (HUNGRY)死/DIE The dominant general word is sǐ 死 (ant. shēng 生"be alive"), and this can refer to the death of plants as well as animals or men.
    • Epithet: (HUNGRY)殍 / 殍/CORPSE Piǎo 殍 refers specifically to the dead bodies of those who have starved and who lie unburied.
    • Contrast: (HUNGRY)饑/HUNGRY Jī 饑 (NOT ANCIENTLY HOMOPHONOUS WITH 飢 in ancient Chinese), and the rarer jín 饉 as well as the very rare qiàn 歉 refer to insufficiency of food as a result of bad harvest.
    • Assoc: (HUNGRY)匱/POOR
    • Assoc: (HUNGRY)不飽/HUNGRY
    • Assoc: (HUNGRY)饑/HUNGRY Jī 饑 (NOT ANCIENTLY HOMOPHONOUS WITH 飢 in ancient Chinese), and the rarer jín 饉 as well as the very rare qiàn 歉 refer to insufficiency of food as a result of bad harvest.