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?
I think that’s right. I would read it as hyperbole to refer to something still alive as desiccated, for sure. If you meant it literally, I wouldn’t think of something that is even just dead but like, dried up and leathery, too – if you’re talking about a desiccated cow, I’m thinking more “beef jerky” and less “someone get the vet, and hurry.” There are more natural options elsewhere in the comments; I offered mine more as “this is the more well-known word using that root” than “this is the most natural word a native speaker would produce.”
I understand and I didn’t write that because I’m arguing. I was just stating how it sounds for me. When I see the word desiccated I imagine something like someone died in an arid place and stayed there for some time. Though it’s not a word that I encounter a lot.