Plague (?), n. [L. plaga a blow, stroke, plague; akin to Gr. �, fr. � to strike; cf. L. plangere to strike, beat. Cf. Plaint.] 1. That which smites, wounds, or troubles; a blow; a calamity; any afflictive evil or torment; a great trail or vexation. Shak.
And men blasphemed God for the plague of hail. Wyclif.
The different plague of each calamity. Shak.
2. (Med.) An acute malignant contagious fever, that often prevails in Egypt, Syria, and Turkey, and has at times visited the large cities of Europe with frightful mortality; hence, any pestilence; as, the great London plague. “A plague upon the people fell.” Tennyson.
Cattle plague. See Rinderpest. — Plague mark, Plague spot, a spot or mark of the plague; hence, a token of something incurable.