The kanji 飢 generally means "hunger" or "starvation." It represents the state of lacking food and the resulting physical discomfort and suffering. It's about the feeling and experience of not having enough to eat.

・On-yomi (音読み): キ (ki) ・Kun-yomi (訓読み): う（える） (u(eru)) - to be hungry, to starve

⚫︎ 飢餓 Translation: famine, starvation ⚫︎ 飢えをしのぐ Translation: to stave off hunger ⚫︎ 食糧飢饉 Translation: food famine

The kanji 飢 is a phono-semantic compound (形声文字). The left side is the radical 食 (shoku), meaning "food" or "to eat." The right side is 几 (ki), which is phonetic, and contributes to the sound. The combination of 食 and 几 visually and conceptually represents the idea of a lack of food, leading to hunger or starvation. The development of the character reflects the importance of food in ancient societies and the fear of its absence.