Single English word for dying of thirst, like starvation. Couldn't think of one, how does Exsiccated/Exsiccation sound? (lemmy.world)

submitted 14 hours ago* (last edited 14 hours ago) by LifeInMultipleChoice@lemmy.world to c/asklemmy@lemmy.world

57 comments fedilink hide all child comments

Exsiccated/Exsiccation - was trying to think of a single English term that could be the equivalent of starvation; like if someone was dying of thirst, but I felt parched isn't weighted enough to fulfill the gravity of it.

In latin exsiccare meant to dry up completely, so that's how we got here I guess.

Thoughts? Is there a term I have forgotten that fits what I was looking for?

you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments

[-] SirSamuel@lemmy.world 11 points 12 hours ago

I feel like the hungry -> starving process is just a longer version of the thirsty -> dehydrated process

Does it make a difference that starvation takes longer than dehydration, but both result in eventual death? It takes weeks to die of starvation, it takes days to die of dehydration. Just because one manifests over a longer period of time and has a longer recovery period doesn't make the other less deadly

Also, I'm not sure if there are poisons a person can ingest that will strip vital nutrients and push a person into the starvation state (and if the poison does strip vital nutrients, the poisoned person already has bigger problems). But consuming alcohol will push a person into the dehydrated state without killing them.

What if you compared the effects of dehydration and starvation as they progress, like, mild -> acute -> severe -> terminal?

Mild dehydration (day 1) kidneys conserve water, headache, fatigue
Mild starvation (week 1) blood sugar drops, liver increases glycogen breakdown, irritability, difficult to concentrate.

Something like that?

This post was brought to you by ADHD, and quite possibly Autism

this post was submitted on 10 Aug 2026

47 points (88.5% liked)

Ask Lemmy

40816 readers

1471 users here now

A Fediverse community for open-ended, thought provoking questions

Rules: (interactive)

1) Be nice and; have fun

Doxxing, trolling, sealioning, racism, toxicity and dog-whistling are not welcomed in AskLemmy. Remember what your mother said: if you can't say something nice, don't say anything at all. In addition, the site-wide Lemmy.world terms of service also apply here. Please familiarize yourself with them

2) All posts must end with a '?'

This is sort of like Jeopardy. Please phrase all post titles in the form of a proper question ending with ?

3) No spam

Please do not flood the community with nonsense. Actual suspected spammers will be banned on site. No astroturfing.

4) NSFW is okay, within reason

Just remember to tag posts with either a content warning or a [NSFW] tag. Overtly sexual posts are not allowed, please direct them to either !asklemmyafterdark@lemmy.world or !asklemmynsfw@lemmynsfw.com. NSFW comments should be restricted to posts tagged [NSFW].

5) This is not a support community.

It is not a place for 'how do I?', type questions. If you have any questions regarding the site itself or would like to report a community, please direct them to Lemmy.world Support or email info@lemmy.world. For other questions check our partnered communities list, or use the search function.

6) No US Politics.

Please don't post about current US Politics. If you need to do this, try !politicaldiscussion@lemmy.world or !uspolitics@lemmy.world

7) No Hit-and-Run questions.

Please don't delete your post for no apparent reason. If you plan on deleting a question later, say so in the post, or if you feel that you have a good reason to remove it, message a mod beforehand. It's not fair to the ones who took their time to answer, and it's not in the spirit of the community.

Reminder: The terms of service apply here too.