Hypertext Webster Gateway: "pestilence"
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) (web1913)
Pestilence \Pes"ti*lence\, n. [F. pestilence, L. pestilentia.
See {Pestilent}.]
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. Fig.: 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} (Bot.), the butterbur coltsfoot ({Petasites
vulgaris}), so called because formerly considered a remedy
for the plague. --Dr. Prior.
From WordNet (r) 1.7 (wn)
pestilence
n 1: any epidemic disease with a high death rate [syn: {plague}]
2: a pernicious evil influence
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