Origin: Latin suffix -ence
Pestilence has 5 different meanings across 2 categories:
a serious (sometimes fatal) infection of rodents caused by Yersinia pestis and accidentally transmitted to humans by the bite of a flea that has bitten an infected animal
any epidemic disease with a high death rate
a pernicious and malign influence that is hard to get rid of
"racism is a pestilence at the heart of the nation"
"according to him, I was the canker in their midst"
Any epidemic disease that is highly contagious, infectious, virulent and devastating.
The personification of pestilence, often depicted riding a white horse.