pestilence
noun
No English definition recorded for this entry.
L325353 on Wikidata ↗Wiktionary
Pronunciation: /ˈpɛstələn(t)s/ / /ˈpɛstɪlən(t)s/ / /ˈpɛstlən(t)s/
name
- The personification of pestilence, often depicted riding a white horse.
noun
Etymology: From Middle English, from Old French, from Latin pestilentia (“plague”), from pestilens (“infected, unwholesome, noxious”); equivalent to pestilent + -ence.
- Any epidemic disease that is highly contagious, infectious, virulent and devastating.
“1485, Thomas Malory, Le Morte Darthur, Book XVII, Chapter iii, leaf 347r and hit was in the realme of Logrys and soo bifelle grete pestylence & grete harme to both Realmes "And it was in the realm of Logris; and so befell great pestilence and great harm to both realms."”
“Thou shalt not be afraid for the terror by night; nor for the arrow that flieth by day; Nor for the pestilence that walketh in darkness; nor for the destruction that wasteth at noonday.”
- Anything harmful to morals or public order.