A picture worth holding: something bad arrives, spreads through a whole place faster than anyone can stop it, and then will not leave. Not one blow — a blow that keeps coming, touching person after person, house after house. The horror in the word is as much about the not-stopping as about the harm.
From the word’s history
From Latin plāga ("a blow, a wound"), from plangō ("to strike"). The oldest layer is not disease at all but being struck — which is why the modern word still feels like something hitting a population from outside.
這個字最早的意思不是病，而是「一擊、傷口」——拉丁文 plāga 來自 plangō（打、擊）。這解釋了為什麼 plague 到今天聽起來還是「從外面砸下來的一下」，而不是身體自己出的毛病。等你知道底層是「打」，動詞那一支（一直煩你）就不再是奇怪的延伸：那正是原意——反覆挨打的感覺。
The entry's attested origin note: Middle English plage ← Old French plage ← Latin plāga ("blow, wound") ← plangō ("to strike").
登入就可以看每一支怎麼連回核心畫面。
原始詞典資料7 筆記錄
以下是外部詞典記錄的用法，摘錄並精簡格式，我們還沒有寫成教學內容。上面的說明才是我們自己寫的；有些用法可能上面已經講過了。
plaguenoun/pleɪɡ/
- 1
The bubonic plague, the pestilent disease caused by the virulent bacterium Yersinia pestis.
- It was about the beginning of September, 1664, that I, among the rest of my neighbours, heard in ordinary discourse that the plague was returned again in Holland[…] It mattered not from whence it came; but all agreed it was come into Holland again.
- 2
medicinepathologysciencesAn epidemic or pandemic caused by any pestilence, but especially that caused by the above disease.
- Great plagues, such as the bubonic plague or smallpox or syphilis or influenza, can happen again.
- 3
A widespread affliction, calamity, or destructive influx, especially when seen as divine retribution.
- Ten Biblical plagues over Egypt, ranging from locusts to the death of the crown prince, finally forced Pharaoh to let Moses's people go.
- A plague a both the Houſes, I am sped: / Is he gone and hath nothing?
- 4
A grave nuisance, whatever greatly irritates.
- Bart is an utter plague; his pranks never cease.
- "I'm not doing anything as far as that goes," admitted Tulloch. "In fact," he added ruefully, "that's the plague of it. I'm waiting to hear from a man who's waiting to hear from another man, and he's depending on something that may or mayn't, you understand."
- 5
biologynatural-sciencesornithologyA group of common grackles (a blackbird), especially when flocking to e.g. parking lots at night.
- Plague of Grackles Reminiscent of Hitchcock's ‘The Birds'
- A plague of grackles hang out on wires on Friday, Dec. 16, 2022 in Houston.
plagueverb/pleɪɡ/
- 1
To harass, pester or annoy someone persistently or incessantly.
- "Moreover," replied Congreve, "it was a sort of flattery to the duke. It showed that she valued the power of plaguing him more than her own fairest ornament. Flattery is the real secret by which a woman keeps her lover."
- [W]hat we have here, they believe, are two members of gangs that have been plaguing Islington for more than a year. They snatch smartphones from pedestrians, then sell the items on the black market.
- 2
To afflict with a disease or other calamity.
- Natural catastrophes plagued the colonists till they abandoned the pestilent marshland.
- Falling prices and drought plagued the cattle industry.
摘錄自 英文維基詞典 English Wiktionary，已精簡格式；依 CC BY-SA 4.0 授權使用，改動後的內容同樣以此授權提供。