pestilence

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The Word of the Day for February 22 is:

pestilence   \PES-tuh-lunss\   noun
     1 : a contagious or infectious epidemic disease that is virulent and 
devastating; especially : bubonic plague 
    *2 : something that is destructive or pernicious

Example sentence:
     Bert insisted to his dying day that computers were a pestilence that would 
destroy human interaction.

Did you know?
     In the 14th century, the bubonic and pneumonic plagues ravaged Europe, 
casting the population into terror and leaving a death toll in the millions. It 
is easy to see why people of that grim period began using "pestilence," a 
derivative of "pestis," the Latin word for "plague," to refer to the horrifying 
diseases wracking the land. Plague and death became common literary themes of 
the era, and Geoffrey Chaucer used "pestilence" to vivid effect in "The 
Pardoner's Tale": "Ther cam a privee theef men clepeth Deeth, / That in this 
contree al the peple sleeth, / And with his spere he smoot his herte atwo, / 
And wente his wey withouten wordes mo. / He hath a thousand slayn this 
pestilence." 

*Indicates the sense illustrated in the example sentence.





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