Defn: That which conveys contagion or infection. [Obs.] Donne.
PESTIFEROUS Pes*tif"er*ous, a. Etym: [L. pestiferus, pestifer; pestis pest + ferre to bear: cf. F. pestifère.]
1. Pest-bearing; pestilential; noxious to health; malignant; infectious; contagious; as, pestiferous bodies. "Poor, pestiferous creatures begging alms." Evelyn. "Unwholesome and pestiferous occupations." Burke.
2. Noxious to peace, to morals, or to society; vicious; hurtful; destructive; as, a pestiferous demagogue. Pestiferous reports of men very nobly held. Shak.
PESTIFEROUSLY
Pes*tif"er*ous*ly, adv.
Defn: In a pestiferuos manner.
PESTILENCE
Pes"ti*lence, n. Etym: [F. pestilence, L. pestilentia. See
Pestilent.]
1. Specifically, the disease known as the plague; hence, any contagious or infectious epidemic disease that is virulent and devastating. The pestilence That walketh in darkness. Ps. xci. 6.
2. Fig.: That which is pestilent, noxious, or pernicious to the moral character of great numbers. I'll pour this pestilence into his ear. Shak. Pestilence weed (Bot.), the butterbur coltsfoot (Petasites vulgaris), so called because formerly considered a remedy for the plague. Dr. Prior.
PESTILENT Pes"ti*lent, a. Etym: [L. pestilens, -entis, fr. pestis pest: cf. F. pestilent.]