pestilence
Any epidemic disease that is highly contagious, infectious, virulent and devastatingAny epidemic disease that is highly contagious, infectious, virulent and devastating.
» Tom doesn't know the difference between pastry and pestilence.
rul · Tatoeba · CC BY 2.0 FRTranslations
8 languagesBy meaning 1
By meaning 1
Examples
2 sentencesTom doesn't know the difference between pastry and pestilence.
Many squandered their money on charms and amulets, thinking that would ward off the pestilence.
Meaning
2 senses(countable, uncountable)Any epidemic disease that is highly contagious, infectious, virulent and devastating.
Pest, Seuche
морmor, чума́čumá
any epidemic disease with a high death rate
(archaic, countable, uncountable)Anything harmful to morals or public order.
Origin
From Middle English, from Old French, from Latin pestilentia (“plague”), from pestilens (“From Middle English, from Old French, from Latin pestilentia (“plague”), from pestilens (“infected, unwholesome, noxious”); equivalent to pestilent + -ence.
Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0 · source
Forms
plural: pestilences| Singular | pestilence |
|---|---|
| Plural | pestilences |
regular
Synonyms
5 synonyms- a serious (sometimes fatal) infection of rodents caused by Yersinia pestis and accidentally transmitted to humans by the bite of a flea that has bitten an infected animal:plaguepestpestis
- any epidemic disease with a high death rate:plaguepest
- a pernicious and malign influence that is hard to get rid of:canker
Word family
5 related wordsLessons for this word
1 lessons- A1Countable and uncountable nouns — Because it can be uncountable
See also
neighbours in the dictionaryDictionary text adapted from Wiktionary (Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0) and Open English WordNet / Princeton WordNet (CC BY 4.0, WordNet License); shared under CC BY-SA 4.0. Example sentences and recordings are credited where they appear.