Quantcast
 
Dictionary
Thesaurus
Encyclopedia
Translator
Web
Related Searches
Nearby Words

black death

 - 7 dictionary results

Black Death

 
–noun
a form of bubonic plague that spread over Europe in the 14th century and killed an estimated quarter of the population.
Use black death in a Sentence
Origin:
1815–25
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2010.
Cite This Source Link To black death
Black Death  
n.  An outbreak of bubonic plague that was pandemic throughout Europe and much of Asia in the 14th century.

[From the dark splotches it causes on its victims.]
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
Cite This Source
Cultural Dictionary

Black Death

A disease that killed nearly half the people of western Europe in the fourteenth century. It was a form of the bubonic plague.

The American Heritage® New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition
Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
Cite This Source
Word Origin & History

Black Death 
"bubonic/pneumonic plague epidemic of 1347-51 in Europe," a modern name, introduced in Eng. 1823 by Elizabeth Penrose's history of England. The contemporary name for it in most languages was something like "the great dying." The term "Black Death" first turns up in 16c. Swed. and Dan. chronicles, but in ref. to a visitation of plague in Iceland in 1402-3 that carried off much of the population there. The exact sense of "black" is not clear. The term was picked up in Ger. 18c., applied to the earlier outbreak, and taken from there into Eng.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
Cite This Source
Medical Dictionary

Main Entry: black death
Function: noun
often cap B&D 1 : PLAGUE 2
2 : a severe epidemic of plague and especially bubonic plague that occurred in Asia and Europe in the 14th century
Merriam-Webster's Medical Dictionary, © 2002 Merriam-Webster, Inc.
Cite This Source

Black Death n.
A form of bubonic plague, caused by Yersinia pestis, that was pandemic throughout Europe and much of Asia in the 14th century.

The American Heritage® Stedman's Medical Dictionary
Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Cite This Source
Science Dictionary
Black Death  
A widespread epidemic of bubonic plague that occurred in several outbreaks between 1347 and 1400. It originated in Asia and then swept through Europe, where it killed about a third of the population. See more at bubonic plague.
The American Heritage® Science Dictionary
Copyright © 2002. Published by Houghton Mifflin. All rights reserved.
Cite This Source
Search another word or see black death on Thesaurus | Reference
FacebookTwitterFollow us:
Partner Sites:
ExpediaHotelsHotwireLife123LiveDailyThe Daily BeastUrbanspoonAsk AnswersBloglinesSendori