See Also: pestiferous(medicine)
pestiferous(dictionary)

pestiferous (iou)



pestiferous adjective. LME.
[In branch I from Latin pestifer, from pestis plague + -fer: see -FEROUS. In branch II from French pestifere.]
I.
Bringing or producing plague, pestilent; harmful, noxious, deadly. LME.
fig. Bearing moral contagion; pernicious. Now also (colloq.), irritating, annoying, constituting a pest or nuisance. LME.
II.
Afflicted with a contagious disease, esp. the plague. M17.
pestiferously adverb M19.