starve

Where does the word "starve" come from? It comes from Old English steorfan, and was adopted directly into English (1500s).

Starve’s story begins in Old English: steorfan meant “to die.” 'to die', of any cause; German sterben still means simply 'to die'. It reached English by 1500s as starve. Narrowed to dying of hunger (and in northern dialects of cold, as in 'starved with cold') as 'die', from Norse, took over its general sense. Today, starve means to suffer or die from hunger.

1. Stage 1 · Old English · medieval steorfan "to die", 'to die', of any cause; German sterben still means simply 'to die'.
2. Stage 2 · English · 1500s starve "to suffer from hunger", narrowed to dying of hunger (and in northern dialects of cold, as in 'starved with cold') as 'die', from Norse, took over its general sense.