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Definitions: Pestilence |
PestilenceNoun1. Any epidemic disease with a high death rate. 2. A pernicious evil influence. Source: WordNet 1.7.1 Copyright © 2001 by Princeton University. All rights reserved. |
Date "pestilence" was first used: sometime around 1300. (references) |
Etymology: Pestilence \Pes"ti*lence\, noun. [French expression pestilence, from Latin expression pestilentia. See Pestilent.]. (Websters 1913) |
Synonym: PestilenceSynonym: plague (n). (additional references) |
(From Wikipedia, the free Encyclopedia)
Pestilence is also one of the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse, along with War, Famine, and Death.
Source: adapted by the editor from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia under a copyleft GNU Free Documentation License (GFDL) from the article "Pestilence."
| Context | Synonyms within Context (source: adapted from Roget's Thesaurus). |
Disease | Taint, pollution, infection, sepsis, septicity, infestation; epidemic, pandemic, endemic, epizootic; murrain, plague, pestilence, pox. |
Inexpedience | Badness; Adjective: peccancy, abomination; painfulness; pestilence; (disease); guilt; depravity. |
| Source: adapted from Roget's Thesaurus. | |
Crosswords: Pestilence |
| English words defined with "pestilence": Impest ♦ Lustration ♦ Pestilence weed ♦ Tokened. (references) |
| Specialty definitions using "pestilence": Bills of Mortality, Black Assize ♦ Dictator ♦ Pigeon, Pigeons ♦ Roch. (references) |
| Etymologies containing "pestilence": Qualm. (references) |
| Domain | Usage | |
Screenplays | There is a pestilence upon this land, nothing is sacred. (Monty Python and the Holy Grail; writing credit: Graham Chapman; John Cleese) Believe?! If you believe you are gullible. Can you look around this world and believe in the goodness of a god who rules it? Famine, Pestilence, War, Disease and Death! (The Masque of the Red Death; writing credit: Charles Beaumont; R. Wright Campbell) He's very theatrical, you know, a pestilence here, a plague there. (Family Guy; writing credit: Dolores Payás) A walking pestilence! (Planet of the Apes; writing credit: Pierre Boulle; Michael Wilson) | |
Movie/TV Titles | The Time of Pestilence (1951) Vermin & Pestilence (1995) | |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | ||
| Domain | Title |
Books |
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Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |
| Author | Quotation |
Percy Bysshe Shelley | Power, like a desolating pestilence, pollutes whatever it touches. |
William Blake | He who desires but does not act, breeds pestilence. |
| Energy is an eternal delight, and he who desires, but acts not, breeds pestilence. | |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references. | |
| Title | Author | Quote |
Scarlet Letter | Hawthorne, Nathaniel | Pestilence was known to have been foreboded by a shower of crimson light. |
Les Miserables | Hugo, Victor | There is corruption under illustrious tyrants, but the moral pestilence is more hideous still under infamous tyrants. |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references. | ||
| Subject | Topic | Quote |
Lexicography | Devil's Dictionary | DICTATOR, n. The chief of a nation that prefers the pestilence of despotism to the plague of anarchy. |
Source: compiled by the editor from ICON Group International, Inc.; see credits. | ||
| "Pestilence" is generally used as a noun (singular) -- approximately 93.75% of the time. "Pestilence" is used about 48 times out of a sample of 100 million words spoken or written in English. Its rank is based on over 700,000 words used in the English language. Some parts-of-speech are not covered due to the samples used by the British National Corpus. (note: percents less than one-hundredth of one percent have been omitted) |
| Parts of Speech | Percent | Usage per 100 Million Words | Rank in English |
| Noun (singular) | 93.75% | 45 | 50,900 |
| Noun (proper) | 6.25% | 3 | 202,518 |
| Total | 100.00% | 48 | N/A |
Source: compiled by the editor from several corpora; see credits.
Expressions using "pestilence": pestilence of animals ♦ pestilence weed ♦ red pestilence. Additional references. | |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. |
| The following statistics estimate the number of searches per day across the major English-language search engines as identified by various trade publications. Hyperlinks lead to commercial use of the expression at Amazon.com. |
| Expression | Frequency per Day |
pestilence | 66 |
hallowed pestilence | 3 |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |
| Language | Translations for "pestilence"; alternative meanings/domain in parentheses. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Albanian | murtajë (murrain, pest, plague), kolerë (cholera), e keqe (affliction, bad, evil, harm, hopeless, ill, pest, wrong). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Arabic | وباء (epidemic, pest, plague, scourge), الطاعون الدبلي. (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Bulgarian | мор (dummy, pest, plague), заразна болест (zymosis, zymotic disease), епидемия (epidemic, plague, rash). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Chinese | 瘟 (epidemic, plague), 傳染病 . (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Czech | nákaza (contagion, infection, taint, virus), mor (plague). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Danish | pest (plague). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Dutch | pest (plague). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Esperanto | pesto (plague). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Farsi | ناخوشی همه جاگیر (Qualm), افت (Blight, Deuce, Downfall, Pest, Plague, Slump), بیماری طاعون . (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Finnish | rutto (the plague). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
French | peste (pestis). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
German | seuche (contagion, epidemic, epidemic plague, pandemic disease, plague, scourge), Pest (pest, plague). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Greek | πανώλησ (plague, pox), επιδημία (blast, epidemic, pest), λοιμόσ (pest, plague). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Hebrew | מגפה (epidemic, murrain, plague, rout), קטב (defeat, destruction, plaque), אנדרלמוסיה (chaos, confusion, disorder, pandemonium, plaque, tumult, turmoil, upheaval), נגע (blow, evil, leprosy, lesion, plague, punishment, scurf, stroke, trouble). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Hungarian | dögvész (murrain, pest, plague), pestis (black death, pest, plague). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Indonesian | sampar. (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Italian | pestilenza. (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Japanese Kanji | 疫癘 (epidemic, plague). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Japanese Katakana | えきれい (epidemic, plague). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Manx | plaih (plague), paitt (pest, plague). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Pig Latin | estilencepay peste (murrain, pest, plague). (various references) plagã (canker, pest, scourge, sore, wound), pacoste (blight, calamity, curse, cuss, hanger-on, nuisance, offence, pain, pest, plague), molimã (murrain), epidemie (epidemic, lues), ciumã bubonicã. (various references) эпидемия (epidemic, lues), мор (moore, murrain), бубонная чума (bubonic plague, the plague). (various references) pomor, kuga (murrain, plague). (various references) pestilencia. (various references) pest (menace, pest, plague), farsot (contagion, epidemic, pest, plague). (various references) zararlı öğreti, veba (black death, fowl pest, pest, plague), öldürücü salgın hastalık. (various references) чума (pest, plague), епідемія (epidemic). (various references) bệnh dịch bệnh dịch hạch. (various references) pla (bore, nuisance, plague), haint (faint). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Language | Period | Translations |
| Latin | 500 BCE-Modern | cesluim, lues, peste, pestem, pesti, pestilencia, pestilentia, pestilentiae, pestilentiam, pestis. (various references) |
| Old French | 900-1400 | moraine. (various references) |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references. | ||
| Language | Date | Source | Matthew Chapter 24, Verse 7 |
| Greek (transliterated) | 250 BC | Septuagint | Egerqhsetai gar eqnoV epi eqnoV kai basileia epi basileian kai esontai limoi kai loimoi kai seismoi kata topouV |
| Latin | 405 | Vulgate | Consurget enim gens in gentem et regnum in regnum et erunt pestilentiae et fames et terraemotus per loca |
| Old English | 990 | West Saxon | Þeod winð ongen þeode. & rice ongeanrice. & man-cwalmes beoð. & hungres widegeon land. & eorðe steriunge. |
| Middle English | 1395 | Wyclif | Folk schal rise togidere ayens folc, and rewme ayens rewme, and pestilences, and hungris, and the erthemouyngis schulen be bi placis; |
| Renaissance English | 1526 | Tyndale | For nacio shall ryse ageynste nacio and realme ageynste realme: and ther shalbe pestilence honger and erthquakes in all quarters. |
| Jacobean English | 1611 | King James | For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in divers places. |
| Victorian English | 1833 | Webster | For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there will be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes in divers places. |
| Basic English | 1964 | Ogden | For nation will be moved against nation, and kingdom against kingdom, and men will be without food, and the earth will be shaking in different places; |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |||
| Language | Matthew Chapter 24, Verse 7 |
| Cebuano | Kay managgubat ang nasud batok sa nasud, ug ang gingharian batok sa gingharian, ug mahitabo ang mga gutom ug mga linog sa nagkalainlaing mga dapit: |
| Chinese | 民 要 攻 打 民 、 國 要 攻 打 國 ． 多 處 必 有 餓 荒 、 地 震 。 |
| Croatian | Narod æe ustati protiv naroda i kraljevstvo protiv kraljevstva; bit æe gladi i potresa po raznim mjestima. |
| Danish | Thi Folk skal rejse sig mod Folk, og Rige mod Rige, og der skal være Hungersnød og Jordskælv her og der. |
| Dutch | Want het ene volk zal tegen het andere volk opstaan, en het ene koninkrijk tegen het andere koninkrijk; en er zullen zijn hongersnoden, en pestilentien, en aardbevingen in verscheidene plaatsen. |
| Finnish | Sillä kansa nousee kansaa vastaan ja valtakunta valtakuntaa vastaan, ja nälänhätää ja maanjäristyksiä tulee monin paikoin. |
| French | Une nation s`élèvera contre une nation, et un royaume contre un royaume, et il y aura, en divers lieux, des famines et des tremblements de terre. |
| German | Denn es wird sich empören ein Volk wider das andere und ein Königreich gegen das andere, und werden sein Pestilenz und teure Zeit und Erdbeben hin und wieder. |
| Hungarian | Mert nemzet támad nemzet ellen, és ország ország ellen; és lésznek éhségek és döghalálok, és földindulások mindenfelé. |
| Indonesian-Bahasa Sehari-hari | Bangsa yang satu akan berperang melawan bangsa yang lain, dan negara yang satu akan menyerang negara yang lain. Di mana-mana akan terjadi bahaya kelaparan dan gempa bumi. |
| Indonesian-Terjemahan Lama | Karena bangsa akan berbangkit melawan bangsa, dan kerajaan melawan kerajaan; maka akan jadi bala kelaparan dan gempa bumi sini sana. |
| Italian | Si solleverà popolo contro popolo e regno contro regno; vi saranno carestie e terremoti in vari luoghi; |
| Latvian | Jo tauta celsies pret tautu un valsts pret valsti, un bûs mçris, bads un vietvietâm zemestrîces. |
| Manx Gaelic | Son nee ashoon girree-magh noi ashoon, as reeriaght noi reeriaght: as bee gennaghyn as crampyn, as craaghyn-thallooin ayns ymmodee ynnydyn. |
| Maori | E whakatika hoki tetahi iwi ki tetahi iwi, tetahi rangatiratanga ki tetahi rangatiratanga: a e puta nga po matekai, nga mate uruta, me nga ru, ki nga tini wahi. |
| Norwegian | For folk skal reise sig mot folk, og rike mot rike, og det skal være hunger og jordskjelv både her og der. |
| Portuguese | Porquanto se levantará nação contra nação, e reino contra reino; e haverá fomes e terremotos em vários lugares. |
| Rumanian | Un neam se va scula kmpotriva altui neam, wi o kmpqrqyie kmpotriva altei kmpqrqyii; wi, pe alocurea, vor fi cutremure de pqmknt, foamete wi ciumi. |
| Russian | ЙВП ЧПУУФБОЕФ ОБТПД ОБ ОБТПД, Й ГБТУФЧП ОБ ГБТУФЧП; Й ВХДХФ ЗМБДЩ, НПТЩ Й ЪЕНМЕФТСУЕОЙС РП НЕУФБН; |
| Shuar | Apachcha Chíkich nunkanmaya apachjai Máaniawartatui. Tura ti tsukasha átatui. Sunkursha ti pampartatui. Uusha ti uurkartatui. Nuka Untsurí nunkanam Ashí Túrunawartatui. |
| Swahili | Taifa moja litapigana na taifa lingine; ufalme mmoja utapigana na ufalme mwingine. Hapa na pale patakuwa na njaa na mitetemeko ya ardhi. |
| Swedish | Ja, folk skall resa sig upp mot folk och rike mot rike, och det skall bliva hungersnöd och jordbävningar på den ena orten efter den andra; |
| Uma | Nto'u toe mpai', wori' ngata mosipanga'ei, magau' hadua mpo'ewa magau' kahadua-na, pai' hiapa-apa ria oro' pai' linu. |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |
Derivations | |
Words beginning with "pestilence": pestilences. (additional references) | |
| |
"Pestilence" is suggested in spellcheckers for the following: pestalence, pestilance, pestilencer, pestilense, pestillence, pestlience, petillance, pettilence, prestilence. (additional references) | |
| Source: compiled by the editor, based on several corpora (additional references). | |
| # of Phoneme Matches | Pronunciation | Word(s) rhyming with "pestilence" (pronounced pe"stuluns) |
| 5 | -u l u n s | ambivalence, ambulance, benevolence, equivalence, excellence, insolence, nonviolence, opulence, petulance, prevalence, turbulence, vigilance, violence, virulence. |
| 4 | -l u n s | balance, condolence, counterbalance, imbalance, parlance, resemblance, semblance, silence, surveillance, unbalance, Valence. |
| 3 | -u n s | abeyance, abhorrence, absence, abstinence, abundance, acceptance, accordance, acquaintance, acquiescence, adherence, admirations, admittance, adolescence, affluence, allegiance, alliance, allowance, ambiance, ambience, annoyance, appearance, appliance, arrogance, ascendance, assistance, assurance, attendance, audience, avoidance, belligerence, beneficence, bioscience, brilliance, cadence, capacitance, chrominance, circumference, clairvoyance, Clarence, clearance, coexistence, cognizance, coherence, coincidence, coinsurance, comeuppance, competence, compliance, concurrence, conference, confidence, confluence, conformance, congruence, connivance, conscience, consequence, consistence, continuance, contrivance, convalescence, convenience, convergence, conveyance, correspondence, countenance, counterintelligence, credence, dalliance, decadence, Defeasance, deference, defiance, deliverance, dependence, deterrence, deviance, difference, diligence, disallowance, disappearance, discontinuance, disobedience, dissidence, dissonance, distance, disturbance, divergence, dominance, ebullience, elegance, eloquence, emergence, eminence, endurance, entrance, essence, evanescence, evidence, existence, expedience, experience, extravagance, exuberance, flamboyance, Florence, forbearance, fragrance, furtherance, governance, grievance, guidance, hindrance, ignorance, immanence, imminence, impatience, impedance, importance, impotence, imprudence, inadvertence, incidence, incoherence, incompetence, incontinence, inconvenience, independence, indifference, inductance, indulgence, inexperience, inference, influence, inheritance, innocence, insignificance, insistence, instance, insurance, intelligence, interdependence, interference, intolerance, intransigence, invariance, irrelevance, irreverence, issuance, jurisprudence, licence, license, luminance, luminescence, maintenance, malfeasance, negligence, neuroscience, noncompliance, noninterference, nuisance, obedience, observance, obsolescence, occurrence, omnipotence, omnipresence, ordinance, Ordnance, overabundance, overconfidence, overdependence, overreliance, patience, penance, performance, permanence, persecutions, perseverance, persistence, phosphorescence, pittance, precedence, predominance, preeminence, preference, preponderance, prescience, presence, prominence, protuberance, provenance, Providence, province, prudence, pseudoscience, quintessence, radiance, reappearance, reassurance, recalcitrance, recognizance, reconnaissance, recurrence, reemergence, reference, reinspections, reinsurance, relevance, reliance, reluctance, remembrance, reminiscence, remittance, repentance, residence, resilience, resistance, resonance, resurgence, reticence, reverence, riddance, science, senescence, sentence, sequence, severance, significance, submergence, subservience, subsidence, subsistence, substance, sustenance, teleconference, temperance, tolerance, transcendence, transference, transience, utterance, variance, vehemence, vengeance, videoconference. |
Source: compiled by the editor (additional references); see credits. | ||
Scrabble® Enable2K-Verified Anagrams | |
| Words within the letters "c-e-e-e-i-l-n-p-s-t" | |
-1 letter: splenetic. | |
-2 letters: centiles, enlistee, epicenes, licensee, pectines, penlites, plenties, selenite. | |
-3 letters: celeste, centile, clients, eclipse, eeliest, entices, epeeist, epicene, epistle, incepts, inspect, lectins, license, licente, lisente, pectens, pectins, pelites, pencels, pencils, penlite, pensile, pintles, plenist, sectile, selenic, setline, silence, splenic, steelie, steepen, steeple, stelene, stencil, tensile. | |
-4 letters: clepes, client, clines, elects, elints, elites, enisle. | |
| Words containing the letters "c-e-e-e-i-l-n-p-s-t" | |
+1 letter: percentiles, pestilences. | |
+2 letters: mantelpieces, preelections, preselecting, preselection. | |
+3 letters: preselections, splenectomies, splenectomize. | |
+4 letters: encephalitides, explicitnesses, incompleteness, pinealectomies, poeticalnesses, splenectomized, splenectomizes, steeplechasing, teleprocessing. | |
+5 letters: complementaries, complementizers, encephalitogens, exceptionalness, pinealectomizes, septendecillion, steeplechasings, susceptibleness, teleprocessings. | |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. SCRABBLE® is a registered trademark. All intellectual property rights in and to the game are owned in the U.S.A and Canada by Hasbro Inc., and throughout the rest of the world by J.W. Spear & Sons Limited of Maidenhead, Berkshire, England, a subsidiary of Mattel Inc. Mattel and Spear are not affiliated with Hasbro. | |
Hexadecimal (or equivalents, 770AD-1900s) (references)50 65 73 74 69 6C 65 6E 63 65 |
| Leonardo da Vinci (1452-1519; backwards) (references)
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| American Sign Language (origins from 1620-1817 in Italy and, especially, France) (references)
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| Semaphore (1791, in France) (references)
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| Braille (1829, in France) (references)
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Morse Code (1836) (references).--. . ... - .. .-.. . -. -.-. . |
| Dancing Men (Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, 1903) (references)
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| Amazon.com BOOKS: Search for: "pestilence" |
