Pest
German, noun/pɛst/
Pest is spelled P-E-S-T (4 letters) and appears 7.8 times per million words in written German, the 8,702nd most frequent German word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). Pest is a German feminine noun meaning “bubonic plague, the plague” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The German Wiktionary defines it as “hochgradig ansteckende Krankheit, die durch das Bakterium Yersinia pestis verursacht wird”.
What does Pest mean in English?
noun
- 1
femininebubonic plague, the plague
Die Pest wütete besonders in den Städten.
- 2
feminineany of various unrelated epidemic diseases affecting animals
- 3
feminineanything that negatively affects vast areas, especially a natural disaster
Ölpest
- 4
feminineinformalanything terrible or odious
die Wahl zwischen Pest und Cholera
Source: English Wiktionary, German section, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0).
How German dictionaries define it
noun: 1. hochgradig ansteckende Krankheit, die durch das Bakterium Yersinia pestis verursacht wird. 2. konkrete Pestepidemie, in einem bestimmten Zeitraum und bestimmtem Gebiet 3. eine Reihe von Tierkrankheiten, zum Beispiel die Geflügelpest 4. Zinnpest, die allotrope Umwandlung von Zinn
The definition in the German Wiktionary, in German.
Source: German Wiktionary, dump of September 1, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org.
Forms of Pest
- Pesten plural rare
Source: English Wiktionary and German Wiktionary (dumps of September 2, 2026 and September 1, 2026).
How do you pronounce Pest?
- /pɛst/
- [pɛst]
Sources: English Wiktionary, German Wiktionary (dumps of September 2, 2026 and September 1, 2026); recordings from Wikimedia Commons.
English words that translate to Pest
Source: the translation tables of the English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026.
How common is Pest in German?
Pest appears 7.8 times per million words in written German.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).