Where does “pestilence” come from?
Pestilence comes from Latin pestilentia, formed with the suffix -ia from Latin pestis, ultimately deriving from Proto-Indo-European krewh₂- meaning to bleed or flow.
pestilence (English): Any epidemic disease that is highly contagious,...
Definitions
- Any epidemic disease that is highly contagious,...
Ancestry of “pestilence”, step by step
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Latin | pestilentia | infectious or contagious disease; plague,... |
| 2 | Latin | pestilentus | pestilential, unhealthy |
| 3 | Latin | -ilentus | adjective-forming suffix meaning abounding in,... |
| 4 | Latin | -entus | adjective-forming suffix meaning abounding in,... |
| 5 | Latin | cruentus | bloody in its various senses, "particularly:" |
| 6 | Latin | cruor | blood, gore; murder, bloodshed |
| 7 | Proto-Indo-European | krewh₂- | blood outside the body |