Black Death

Meanings

1. 1proper nounproper

   The plague pandemic that struck Europe and Asia in the 1300s and killed a very large share of the population.

   Grammar: Always with the and capital letters: the Black Death.

   Patterns

   • the Black Death

   The Black Death reached England in 1348.

   Historians debate how many people died in the Black Death.

   Whole villages were abandoned during the Black Death.

2. 2proper nounproperfigurative

   Used loosely for any terrible epidemic or disaster that spreads and kills quickly.

   Grammar: A figurative use, often in the form a modern Black Death.

   Patterns

   • a Black Death of something

   Commentators called the fire a Black Death for the forest.

   The new virus was likened to a Black Death by the press.

Common combinations

survive the Black Death

Few families survived the Black Death untouched.

before the Black Death

Wages were lower before the Black Death.

the Black Death struck

The Black Death struck port cities first.

victims of the Black Death

Mass graves held victims of the Black Death.

after the Black Death

Labor was scarce after the Black Death.

Synonyms and how they differ

the plague

The plague is the general disease name, while Black Death names the specific fourteenth-century outbreak.

the Great Mortality

The Great Mortality was the term used at the time, and is more formal and historical.

pestilence

Pestilence is a general old word for any deadly epidemic, not one event.

bubonic plague

Bubonic plague is the medical name of the disease, not the historical event.

Word family

plague noun

a deadly infectious disease

bubonic adjective

relating to swollen glands in plague

pandemic noun

an epidemic across many countries

epidemic noun

a widespread outbreak in one area

Commonly confused: Black Death or black plague?

Practice

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