What is the Latin word for starve?

The usual Latin words for “starve” are mācerō, suffōcō, frīgeō; also exanimō, absūmō, pereō. The right choice depends on the sense; see the distinctions below.

English → Latin

“starve” in Latin

mācerōto soften, make tender by soaking or steeping; to weaken, waste away; to vex, torment, distress suffōcōto choke, stifle, strangle, suffocate, drown frīgeōto be cold or chilly; freeze; to be inactive, languid or at a standstill; flag, droop; to be coldly received or treated;exanimōto deprive of air or wind; deflate; weaken, exhaust; to deprive of life, kill, wear out; to be out of breath, be weakene absūmōto diminish, take away, use up, consume, exhaust; to ruin, destroy, annihilate, corrupt; to kill pereōto perish, pass away, die, be ruined; to vanish, disappear, come to nothing; to leak; to be absorbed

Riddle & Arnold A Copious and Critical English–Latin Lexicon, 1864

starve

Transitively, To kill by deficiency of food, fame necare, macerare, suffocare. To starve one’s self, fraudare se victu suo; fraudare ventrem: to be starved to death, fame mori, absumi, perire, or interire (through want); inedia mori; inedia vitam finire; per inediam a vita discedere (voluntarily to starve one’s self to death); fame necari (either as a punishment or otherwise): to starve out, aliquem fame enecare, conficere; (urbem) fame domare or suffocare; inopia expugnare: starved out, fame enectus, confectus.

To kill with cold, *frigore necare, etc.

Intransitively, To be suffering from hunger, fame enecari. To be dying of hunger, fame mori, confici, consumi, etc.; Vid: above.

To be suffering from cold, frigere; plane frigere (Cic.); frigore frigescere (Cic.); *frigore exstingui, exanimari (to die in consequence of the cold); frigore mori (Hor.; morietur frigore si non Rettuleris pannum).

Quick answer

What is the Latin word for starve?: The usual Latin words for “starve” are mācerō, suffōcō, frīgeō; also exanimō, absūmō, pereō. The right choice depends on the sense; see the distinctions below.

Entry from J. E. Riddle & T. K. Arnold, A Copious and Critical English–Latin Lexicon (rev. C. Anthon, New York: Harper, 1864), digitised by Fergus J. P. Walsh, CC BY-SA 4.0; Latin markup adapted by latindictionary.co.