fames

Fames is a Latin noun meaning hunger or famine. It is a feminine noun of the third declension and appears in classical and later Latin texts to denote the state of being hungry or a period of scarcity.

In Latin literature, fames is used both literally to describe hunger and metaphorically to express deprivation, want, or misery caused by scarcity. It is commonly found in discussions of military campaigns, sieges, and rural life, where famine can signal social distress and deprivation for communities or populations.

The term also appears in personifications and rhetorical contexts, sometimes as a figure representing hunger as a force that influences history and human behavior. Its usage spans poetry, history, and prose, reflecting the social and economic dimensions of scarcity in ancient and late antique contexts.

Etymology and influence: The English word famine derives from Latin fames via Old French famine, illustrating how a core concept from classical Latin entered English through Romance languages and became a common term for extreme hunger and food shortage.

See also: famine; hunger.