Pestiferous
/pɛˈstɪfərəs/noun
Causing annoyance, trouble, or the spread of disease.
Did you know?Pestiferous comes from Latin pestifer, a compound used for something that brings plague or destruction, so the word has carried a truly toxic vibe since antiquity.
Etymological Timeline
Proto-Indo-European
PIE
*kwes-
“to rot, decay”
Latin
Latin
pestis
“plague, pestilence, destructive disease”
Latin
Latin
-fer
“bearing, carrying”
Late Latin
Latin
pestifer
“plague-bearing, pestilential”
Middle English
English
pestiferous
“causing plague; noxious, harmful”
Modern English
English
pestiferous
“annoyingly troublesome or destructive”
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