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Added 8 October 2026

plague

/pleɪɡ/ noun

Categories: Describing WordsSocietyUncommon Words

In Latin: pestis, luēs, clades Wiktionary

noun Definition from WordNet 3.1, Princeton University. Pronunciation from Wiktionary, via Kaikki.org. More about plague at Wordnik → Where our words come from →

  1. A serious (sometimes fatal) infection of rodents caused by Yersinia pestis and accidentally transmitted to humans by the bite of a flea that has bitten an infected animal.
  2. Any epidemic disease with a high death rate.
  3. A swarm of insects that attack plants.
    a plague of grasshoppers

verb

  1. Cause to suffer a blight.
    Too much rain may blight the garden with mold
  2. Annoy continually or chronically.
    He is known to harry his staff when he is overworked

Origin

From Middle English plage, borrowed from Old French plage, from Latin plāga (“blow, wound”), from plangō (“to strike”). Cognate with Middle Dutch plāghe (> Dutch plaag), plāghen (> Dutch plagen); Middle Low German plāge; Middle High German plāge, pflāge (> German Plage); plāgen (> German plagen); Swedish plåga; French plaie, Occitan plaga. Doublet of plaga. Displaced native Old English wōl.

From Wiktionary, via Kaikki.org (CC BY-SA)

Related Words: pestilenceblightchivybesetmolestprovokehassleharasschivvyharrychevychevvy

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