pestilence
/ˈpɛstɪl(ə)ns
/noun archaic
A fatal epidemic disease, especially bubonic plague: neither prayers nor demonstrations halted the advance of the pestilence [mass noun]: she died of pestilence...
- He argues that there is clear evidence for the pestilence having been plague, rather than other diseases that have been suggested such as anthrax.
- The physician's challenge is the curing of disease, educating the people in the laws of health, and preventing the spread of plagues and pestilences.
- He ordered the nearby swamps and marshes in the city of Salinus to be drained, in order to prevent an unknown pestilence, probably malaria.
Synonyms
plague, bubonic plague, the Black Death;
disease, contagious disease, contagion, infection, sickness, epidemic, pandemic
archaic the pest, lues
Origin
Middle English (also denoting something morally corrupting): from Old French, from Latin pestilentia, based on pestis 'a plague'.