▪ I. pestilence, n. (adv.)
(ˈpɛstɪləns)
Also 4–6 pestilens, -elence, 5 pestlens, 5–6 pestylens, -ylence, 6 -elens, 6–7 pestlence.
[a. F. pestilence, ad. L. pestilentia, n. of condition f. pestilent-em pestilent: see -ence.]
1. Any fatal epidemic disease, affecting man or beast, and destroying many victims.
| 1303 R. Brunne Handl. Synne 1370 Yn Rome fyl a grete moreyne..A pestelens of men. 1377 Langl. P. Pl. B. xx. 97 Many kene sores, As pokkes and pestilences. c 1440 Gesta Rom. xxxvii.* 360 (Add. MS.) In the Citee of Rome befille a grete pestilence of men and bestes. 1538 Starkey England i. iii. 83 Lyke as a pestylens..destroyth a grete nombur of the pepul wythout regard of any person had, or degre. 1539 Bible (Great) Ps. xc[i]. 6 The pestilence that walketh in darkness. 1548–9 (Mar.) Bk. Com. Prayer, Litany, From plage, pestilence, and famine,..Good lorde deliuer us. 1600 J. Pory tr. Leo's Africa viii. 326 About an hundred yeeres ago, all the monks of this monasterie died of a pestilence. 1796 H. Hunter tr. St.-Pierre's Stud. Nat. (1799) II. 485 Should a pestilence come, and sweep off one half of the people. 1845 Budd Dis. Liver 394 In the winter of 1830–31..in some of the midland, eastern, and southern countries, where the pestilence was most rife, the existing race of sheep was almost entirely swept off. 1865 Cornh. Mag. May 591 To be entitled to the name of pestilence, a disease must be unusually fatal, very rapid in its operation, and must destroy great numbers of victims. |
b. spec. The bubonic plague, the plague par excellence; = pest 1.
| [1350–1 Rolls of Parlt. II. 225/2 Et puis en cea ad il este destourbe, primes per la dit Pestilence.] 1362 Langl. P. Pl. A. x. 185 Mony peire seþþen þe pestilence han pliht hem togedere. 1466 in Archæologia (1887) L. i. 50 Men and women and children ȝonge and olde of other parissches than ther owne infecte in pestilence the which sekenes euery man escheweth. 1556 Chron. Gr. Friars (Camden) 6 This yere was the iij. great pestelens. Ibid. 22 [Edw. IV] xvijo... Thys yere..was..the terme deferrd from Ester to Myhylmas be cause of the grete pestelens. 1564 W. Bullein Dial. agst. Pest. (1888) 8, I met with wagones..full laden with yong barnes, for fear of the blacke Pestilence. 1579 Reg. Privy Council Scot. III. 229 The infectioun and plague of the pistolence. 1706 Phillips, Pestilence or Plague, a Disease arising from an Infection in the Air, accompany'd with Blotches, Boils, and..other dreadful Symptoms. 1823 Mrs. Markham Hist. Eng. xviii. (1853) 160 During the great pestilence he bought a piece of ground, which he gave for a burying-ground for those who died in London of that dreadful disease. |
2. fig. That which is morally pestilent or pernicious; moral plague or mischief, evil conduct, wickedness; that which is fatal to the public peace or well-being. Now rare.
| a 1340 Hampole Psalter i. 1 In þe chaiere of pestilens he noght sate. c 1374 Chaucer Boeth. iv. met. iii. 95 (Camb. MS.) Mercurie..hath vnbownded hym fro the pestelence of his oostesse [Circes]. 1406 Hoccleve Misrule 260 O flaterie! o lurkyng pestilence! 1577 J. Northbrooke Dicing (1843) 97 Such players of enterludes..are so noysome a pestilence to infect a common wealth. 1604 Shakes. Oth. ii. iii. 362 Ile powre this pestilence into his eare. 1634 Documents agst. Prynne (Camden) 6 Clemens Alexandrinus, Tertullian, and Ste Chrisostome, call playe howses the state of pestilence. 1875 Manning Mission H. Ghost ix. 258 The fashions of the day, the pestilence of bad literature. |
† 3. That which plagues, injures, or troubles in any way; a cause of trouble or injury; a plague.
| c 1374 Chaucer Boeth. i. pr. iv. 8 (Camb. MS.), For þat the gouernementus of Citees..ne sholde nat bryngen in pestelence and destruccion to goode fookk. 1456 Sir G. Haye Law Arms (S.T.S.) 3 [To] put this travailland warld in pes and rest that now is put in grete pestilence. 1538 Starkey England i. iv. 106 In no cuntrey may be any grettur pestylens..then cyuyle warre. 1555 Eden Decades 274 [Norway] hath also a peculiar pestilence which they caule Leem or Lemmer..a lyttle foure footed beaste abowte the byggenesse of a ratte with a spotted skynne. |
† 4. As an imprecation: a pestilence on or upon{ddd}! may a plague or mischief light upon{ddd}! Cf. pest 1 b, devil 17, plague. the pestilence of (a penny), not a penny: cf. devil 21, fiend 2 b. with a pestilence, with a vengeance, so as to plague or trouble, much more than one wishes. Obs.
| c 1386 Chaucer Nun's Pr. T. 590 A verray pestilence vp-on yow falle. 1568 North Gueuara's Diall Pr. iv. viii. 129 The pestilens of penny he hath in his purse to blesse him with. 1594 Nashe Unfort. Trav. F ij, He interpreted to vs with a pestilence. 1594 Greene & Lodge Looking Glasse G.'s Wks. (Rtldg.) 120/1 We..clap a plaster to him, with a pestilence, that mends him with a very vengeance. 1602 Shakes. Ham. v. i. 196 A pestlence on him for a mad Rogue! 1612 Chapman Widow's Tears ii. D j b, Has giuen me a Bone to tire on with a pestilence. |
5. attrib. and Comb., as pestilence ill, pestilence planet, pestilence time; pestilence-bringer, pestilence-causer; pestilence-laden, pestilence-stricken adjs.; pestilence-weed, Dr. Prior's name for pestilence-wort.
| 1362 Langl. P. Pl. A. xi. 59 To plese with þis proude men seþþe pestilence tyme. c 1475 Pict. Voc. in Wr.-Wülcker 801/30 Hic saturnus, a pestlens planyt. 1552 Huloet, Pestilence brynger or causer, fatifer, pestifer. 1819 Shelley Ode West Wind i. 5 Pestilence-stricken multitudes. 1899 Month Mar. 300 Striking across pestilence-laden swamps. |
† B. as adv. ‘Plaguy’, ‘pesky’, ‘tarnation’. colloq.
| 1614 B. Jonson Barth. Fair ii. i, The Fair's pestilence dead methinks. 1633 ― Tale of Tub iv. ii, Diogenes. A mighty learned man, but pestilence poor. |
▪ II. † ˈpestilence, v. Obs.
[f. prec.]
trans. To make pestilent, infect with disease. Also fig.
| 1593 Nashe Christ's T. (1613) 151 From our redolentest refined compositions, ayre pestilenzing stinkes..shall issue. 1598 Tofte Alba (1880) 96 Loue (pestilenzing) doth infect my Soule. |