ēsuriēns
In Latin, hungry can be expressed as ēsuriēns or iēiūnus.
Meaning: affected by hunger, desirous of food (adj)
Ways to say it
| Latin |
|---|
| ēsuriēns |
| iēiūnus |
Both words describe being affected by hunger or desirous of food, but they emphasize different aspects of the sensation.
Which one should you use?
While both mean hungry, ēsuriēns often carries a connotation of being voracious, greedy or having an eager appetite. In contrast, iēiūnus is more closely related to the state of fasting or being empty of food.
How does it change in a sentence?
ēsuriēns is a present participle used as an adjective, so its endings will change to agree with the gender, number and case of the noun it modifies. iēiūnus is a standard adjective that follows the first/second declension pattern for agreement.
Did you know?
- The English word 'jejunum', the name for a part of the small intestine, is a direct descendant of the Latin adjective iēiūnus.
- The word iēiūnus is the direct ancestor of the English word 'jejune'. While 'jejune' now means simplistic or naive, it originally described the physical sensation of being hungry or fasting.
- The adjective iēiūnus can be used to describe a landscape or a thing that is 'empty' or 'void', extending beyond the feeling of hunger in the stomach.
Examples in context
- Magnam famem sentio.I feel great hunger.
- Quam esurio!How hungry I am!
- Cum esurientibus conversari.To associate with the hungry.
- Esurit, ergo est.He is hungry, therefore he exists.
- Canis ēsuriēns sub mensā est.The hungry dog is under the table.
- Puer ēsuriēns cibum quaerit.The hungry boy seeks food.
Example conversation
Claudia and Quintus are discussing lunch in a garden.
- ClaudiaQuinte, esne ēsuriēns?Quintus, are you hungry?
- QuintusIta, Claudia, sum valde ēsuriēns.Yes, Claudia, I am very hungry.
- ClaudiaPanem et caseum edamus.Let us eat bread and cheese.
- QuintusOptimum est!That is excellent!
Sources
- Wiktionary, “hungry” translations, CC BY-SA 4.0, dump of 2026-09-26.
