How to say "plague" in Japanese

• 疫病えきびょうCommon
  nounCovers plague in the general sense of an epidemic or pestilence — a widespread infectious disease ravaging a population — without naming any particular illness. Think of a plague sweeping through a town or region.
  その疫病やくびょうが流行りゅうこうして何千なんぜん人にんもの人々ひとびとが死しんだ。↗

  Thousands of people died during the plague.
• ペストCommon
  nounThe name of the disease itself: plague, including the black plague. Choose it when you mean the specific illness, as in accounts of the Black Death sweeping through Europe.
  その年としはペストがはやった。↗

  The plague occurred that year.

Use 疫病 for plague in the general sense of a widespread epidemic disease or pestilence, and 「ペスト」 when you mean the specific disease itself, including the Black Death.

Usage comparisons are AI-assisted and cross-checked by multiple models; for study reference only

• 疫病えきびょうepidemic
• ペストplague
• 異常発生いじょうはっせいplague
• 黒死病こくしびょうplague
• 鼠疫そえきplague
• 疫癘えきれいepidemic
• 疫病神やくびょうがみjinx