Link Centre Dictionary

pestilence

pes·ti·lence

UK/ˈpɛstələn(t)s/ US/ˈpɛstɪlən(t)s/ uncommon archaic

noun

1.

any epidemic disease with a high death rate

Synonyms
2.

Origin

From Middle English, from Old French, from Latin pestilentia (“plague”), from pestilens (“infected, unwholesome, noxious”); equivalent to pestilent + -ence.

Related words

Word family

Broader terms

WordNet 2.1 (Princeton University). Wiktionary (CC BY-SA). CMU Pronouncing Dictionary. WordNet 2.1 Copyright Princeton University. All rights reserved. Wiktionary content is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike Licence.