Lexic.us

Definition of Pestilence

1. Noun. 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.

2. Noun. Any epidemic disease with a high death rate.

3. Noun. A pernicious and malign influence that is hard to get rid of. "According to him, I was the canker in their midst"

Definition of Pestilence

1. n. Specifically, the disease known as the plague; hence, any contagious or infectious epidemic disease that is virulent and devastating.

Definition of Pestilence

1. Noun. Any epidemic disease that is highly contagious, infectious, virulent and devastating. ¹

¹ Source: wiktionary.com

Definition of Pestilence

1. [n -S]

Medical Definition of Pestilence

1. 1. Specifically, the disease known as the plague; hence, any contagious or infectious epidemic disease that is virulent and devastating. "The pestilence That walketh in darkness." (Ps. Xci. 6) 2. That which is pestilent, noxious, or pernicious to the moral character of great numbers. "I'll pour this pestilence into his ear. " (Shak) Pestilence weed, the butterbur coltsfoot (Petasites vulgaris), so called because formerly considered a remedy for the plague. Origin: F. Pestilence, L. Pestilentia. See Pestilent. Source: Websters Dictionary (01 Mar 1998)

Lexicographical Neighbors of Pestilence

pesticidal pesticidally pesticide pesticide poisoning pesticide residues pesticide synergists pesticides pestiduct pestiducts pestier

pestiest pestiferous pestiferously pestiferousness pestilation pestilence (current term) pestilences pestilent pestilential pestilentially

pestilentious pestilently pestis pestis ambulans pestis bubonica pestis fulminans pestis major pestis minor pestis siderans

Literary usage of Pestilence

Below you will find example usage of this term as found in modern and/or classical literature:

1. The Englishman's Hebrew and Chaldee Concordance of the Old Testament by George V. Wigram (1866)
"15. thy people with pestilence j Lev.26:2o.I will send the pestilence Nu. ... The Lord shall make the pestilence 2Sa.24:13.three days' pestilence in thy ..."

2. The Gentleman's Magazine (1897)
"THE GREAT pestilence: A NEGLECTED TURNING POINT IN ENGLISH HISTORY. THE Venerable Bede dismisses in a few words, and as unworthy of detailed notice, ..."

3. The Law of Banks and Banking: Including Acceptance, Demand and Notice of by John Maxcy Zane (1900)
"pestilence and disease.— The prevalence of a malignant disease or of a pestilence that suspends the functions of commerce ought to be an excuse for a ..."

4. Othello: A Tragedy in Five Acts by William Shakespeare, Tommaso Salvini, James Henry Mapleson (1876)
"... for, while this honest fool Plies Desdemona to repair his fortunes, And she for him pleads strongly to the Moor, 111 pour this pestilence into his ear,— ..."

5. Italy and Her Invaders by Thomas Hodgkin (1895)
"pestilence. of Liguria. Its special symptom was the appearance BOOK vi. on the patient ... This pestilence, as Paulus expressly tells us, was one cause of ..."

6. Italy and Her Invaders by Thomas Hodgkin (1895)
"BOOK vi. pestilence which ravaged Italy. On the eighth of - '— '— February Pope Pelagius II died ; the clergy and people l! of Rome flocked to the gate of ..."

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