Hungary did not acquire its name from the renowned appetites of its citizens; rather, Hungary derives either from the Russian river known as the Ugra, or from the Asiatic tribes known as the Huns. In contrast, the noun hunger is a solidly Germanic word: its Old English form was hungur, which meant then what it does now. In turn, this Old English word evolved from the Germanic hungruz, which also meant what it does now. Clearly, hunger is hunger, no matter what century you are in. In the mid nineteenth century, hunger was compounded with other words to create hunger belt and hunger house. The former is a belt that is cinched tighter and tighter about the waist to alleviate the pangs of hunger; the latter is a shed where cattle are kept unfed before being slaughtered, a cruel inversion of the “last meal” priviledge afforded to deathrow inmates. The late nineteenth century also saw the appearance of hunger strike, a non-violent form of political protest.