pestilentia

Forms

pestilentia f (genitive pestilentiae); first declension^[1]

Etymology

It is from pestilēns “unhealthy, pestilent” with the suffix -ia, from pestis “plague”.^[2][1][3] De Vaan rejects the old explanation of ⟨pestis⟩ from ⟨*per-sitis⟩ and notes a possible Avestan ⟨*pesti-⟩ “illness” in the name of a disease.^[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

The OLD's earliest citation is from Varro, of an epidemic.^[2] Köbler dates Varro 116–27 BC.^[5]

Semantic evolution

It meant an outbreak of epidemic disease, a plague, as in Varro, and in Cicero the unhealthiness of air or land.^[2] Lewis & Short add figurative uses for a pernicious influence.^[6]

British Medieval Latin used it for an outbreak of deadly disease, especially the plague of 1348–9, and it served as a reference point for dates.^[7] It survives in Italian pestilenza and Spanish pestilencia, and through Old French pestilence it gave English pestilence about 1300.^[1][3]

Timeline

• 116–27 BC – Varro uses it of an epidemic.^[2][5]
• 81–43 BC – Cicero uses it of unhealthy places.^[2][5]
• c. 1300 – English pestilence is recorded.^[3]
• 1348–1349 – British Medieval Latin uses it of the Black Death.^[7]

Meanings

Noun

1. An epidemic, plague, pestilence.^[2]
2. Unhealthiness of air or land.^[2]

Word family

• pestilentiarius
• pestilentiōsus

Related words

• pestis
• pestilēns
• English pestilence
• English pest

References

1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
4. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
5. ^ a b c Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
6. ^ Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
7. ^ a b Latham, R. E., D. R. Howlett, R. K. Ashdowne, et al. (1975–2013), Dictionary of Medieval Latin from British Sources, London: British Academy / Oxford University Press