pestilence

Definition from Wiktionary, a free dictionary

Contents 1 English 1.1 Etymology 1.2 Noun 1.2.1 Related terms 1.2.2 Translations 1.2.3 External links

[edit] English

[edit] Etymology

< Middle English < Old French < pestilencia (“‘plague’”) < pestilens (“‘infected, unwholesome, noxious’”); see pestilent.

[edit] Noun

pestilence (plural pestilences)

1. Any epidemic disease that is highly contagious, infectious, virulent and devastating.
   • 1949 - Bruce Kiskaddon, George R. Stewart Earth Abides

     The snowshoe-rabbits build up through the years until they reach a climax when the seem to be everywhere; then with dramatic suddenness their pestilence falls upon them.

[edit] Related terms

• pest
• pesticide
• pestilent

[edit] Translations

[edit] External links

• pestilence in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913
• pestilence in The Century Dictionary, The Century Co., New York, 1911