Dictionary

Black Death en · PROPN

Pronunciation

• (Southern-England) audio

Etymology

Calque of Danish den sorte død (literally “the black death”), sortedød (“black death”), since 1755, from Old Danish. The collocation as such is attested early on, but the specific use is believed to have originated in Scandinavia and is first attested in Swedish swarta dödhen (1540), svarthe döden (1555); Modern Swedish svarta döden; compare Norwegian svartedauden, svartedauen.

Meanings

1. (historical) A pandemic outbreak of bubonic plague throughout Europe and most of Asia in the 14th century that killed nearly half the population of Europe and Asia.
   • Following the Black Death in the mid-fourteenth century, and the weakening of Mongol rule, the closing of overland routes between Europe and Asia once again created a bottleneck that flowed through the Middle East, trade flows that were largely controlled by Venice and Egypt. 2013, Al Gore, “Earth Inc.”, in The Future: Six Drivers of Global Change, New York: Random House, →ISBN, →LCCN, →OCLC, page 18:

Forms

Synonyms

the Black Plague · the plague · the bubonic plague

Translations (64)

mn хар үхэл (14th century pandemic outbreak) · ja 黒死病 (14th century pandemic outbreak) · ru чёрный мор (14th century pandemic outbreak) · sv svarta döden (14th century pandemic outbreak) · de schwarzer Tod (14th century pandemic outbreak) · da den dyre død (14th century pandemic outbreak) · mk цр́на смрт (14th century pandemic outbreak) · sv pesten (14th century pandemic outbreak) · sv stordöden (14th century pandemic outbreak) · ro pestă (14th century pandemic outbreak) · tr kara ölüm (14th century pandemic outbreak) · lv melnā nāve (14th century pandemic outbreak) · el Μαύρη Πανώλη (14th century pandemic outbreak) · sk mor (14th century pandemic outbreak) · sv digerdöden (14th century pandemic outbreak) · ru чёрная смерть (14th century pandemic outbreak) · fi musta surma (14th century pandemic outbreak) · ca pesta negra (14th century pandemic outbreak) · nl zwarte dood (14th century pandemic outbreak) · ro ciumă (14th century pandemic outbreak) · sl črna smrt (14th century pandemic outbreak) · hu fekete halál (14th century pandemic outbreak) · sv digredöden (14th century pandemic outbreak) · cy pla du (14th century pandemic outbreak) · sv svartedöden (14th century pandemic outbreak) · sh doba kuge (14th century pandemic outbreak) · is svarti dauði (14th century pandemic outbreak) · vi Cái Chết Đen (14th century pandemic outbreak) · sh crna smrt (14th century pandemic outbreak) · nds swart Dood (14th century pandemic outbreak) · de Beulenpest (14th century pandemic outbreak) · ro moartea neagră (14th century pandemic outbreak) · es peste negra (14th century pandemic outbreak) · nb svartedauden (14th century pandemic outbreak) · br bosenn zu (14th century pandemic outbreak) · id Kematian Hitam (14th century pandemic outbreak) · lt juodoji mirtis (14th century pandemic outbreak) · nb svartedauen (14th century pandemic outbreak) · th กาฬมรณะ (14th century pandemic outbreak) · he המוות השחור (14th century pandemic outbreak) · sv böldpest (14th century pandemic outbreak) · ar الطّاعُونُ (14th century pandemic outbreak) · nb svartedauden (14th century pandemic outbreak) · eo nigra morto (14th century pandemic outbreak) · cy haint y nodau (14th century pandemic outbreak) · ar مَوْت أَسْوَد (14th century pandemic outbreak) · gmq-ogt tighra dauþin (14th century pandemic outbreak) · nap pésta (14th century pandemic outbreak) · ko 흑사병 (14th century pandemic outbreak) · sh доба куге (14th century pandemic outbreak) · gd Bàs Dubh (14th century pandemic outbreak) · pt peste negra (14th century pandemic outbreak) · pl czarna śmierć (14th century pandemic outbreak) · et must surm (14th century pandemic outbreak) · sv stora döden (14th century pandemic outbreak) · it peste nera (14th century pandemic outbreak) · cmn 黑死病 (14th century pandemic outbreak) · da den sorte død (14th century pandemic outbreak) · da sortedød (14th century pandemic outbreak) · sh црна смрт (14th century pandemic outbreak) · fo svartideyði (14th century pandemic outbreak) · fr peste noire (14th century pandemic outbreak) · bg черна смърт (14th century pandemic outbreak) · gmq-ogt ᛐᛁᚼᚱᛆ ᛬ ᛑᛆᚢᚦᛁᚿ (14th century pandemic outbreak)