Plague Meaning
/pleɪɡ/Definition, CEFR level C1, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.
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Definition
nounThe bubonic plague, the pestilent disease caused by the virulent bacterium Yersinia pestis.
nounAn epidemic or pandemic caused by any pestilence, but especially that caused by the above disease.
Sentence Examples
Rats carry the plague.
More often than not, famine is accompanied by plague.
CEFR Practice Quiz
In the 14th century, a deadly ____ spread by fleas killed millions of Europeans.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
The bubonic ____ killed millions of people across Europe during the fourteenth century.
Word Origin & History
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.
Literary Quotations & Historical Citations
"It was about the beginning of September, 1664, that I, among the rest of my neighbours, heard in ordinary discourse that the plague was returned again in Holland[…] It mattered not from whence it came; but all agreed it was come into Holland again."
— 1722, Daniel Defoe, A Journal of the Plague Year:
"Great plagues, such as the bubonic plague or smallpox or syphilis or influenza, can happen again."
— 2006, Irwin W. Sherman, chapter 17, in The Power of Plagues, →ISBN:
"A plague a both the Houſes, I am sped: / Is he gone and hath nothing?"
— c. 1591–1595 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Romeo and Ivliet”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act III, scene i], page 64:
""I'm not doing anything as far as that goes," admitted Tulloch. "In fact," he added ruefully, "that's the plague of it. I'm waiting to hear from a man who's waiting to hear from another man, and he's depending on something that may or mayn't, you understand.""
— 1923, Ernest Bramah, The Eyes of Max Carrados:
"This is the first time a President has attended this dinner in six years. It's understandable- we had a horrible plague, followed by two years of COVID!"
— 2022 April 30, Joe Biden, 0:36 from the start, in President Biden complete remarks at 2022 White House Correspondents' Dinner (C-SPAN), Washington, D.C.: C-SPAN, archived from the original on 01 May 2022:
Explore More C1 Vocabulary Words
CEFR Practice Quiz
In the 14th century, a deadly ____ spread by fleas killed millions of Europeans.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
The bubonic ____ killed millions of people across Europe during the fourteenth century.