餓

A phono-semantic compound:

食 — semantic element meaning food; eating

我 — phonetic element providing the sound 아 (a)

The character literally conveys the idea of lacking food, with 食 indicating nourishment and 我 supplying pronunciation.

기아 (饑餓) — hunger; starvation

아사 (餓死) — to die of starvation

아귀 (餓鬼) — hungry ghost (Buddhist concept)

아민 (餓民) — starving people

In Buddhism, 餓 is central to the concept of 餓鬼 (Hungry Ghosts), beings tormented by perpetual hunger due to greed in past lives.

This usage extended the meaning of 餓 beyond physical hunger to moral and spiritual deprivation.

In Confucian political thought, preventing hunger was seen as a core duty of rulers.

In classical texts, 餓 often appears in discussions of famine, governance, and social instability, emphasizing hunger as a cause of unrest. Frequent references to 餓 often serve as implicit criticism of misrule.

餓者易為亂 — the hungry are easily driven to disorder.

民有餓色 — the people show the look of hunger.

Related characters:

饑 — hunger (often paired with 餓)

食 — food; to eat

飢 — hunger (variant form)

貧 — poverty