Plague - Definition - Law Dictionary Home Dictionary Definition plague

Definition :

Plague [fr., Gk., a wound], pestilence; a contagious and malignant fever.

By 1 Jac. 1, c. 31, it was a capital offence for any infected with the plague, after having been commanded by the mayor or constable, etc., to keep house, to go abroad and in company. This Act was repealed by 7 Wm. 4 & 1 Vict. c. 91, s. 4. See now Public Health Act, 1875 (38 & 39 Vict. c. 55),

ss. 134-140; repealed as from October, 1936, and replaced by ss. 143-170, Public Health Act, 1936; and tits. PUBLIC HEALTH; QUARANTINE, post. For an account of the Great Plague in London in 1665, see Pepys's Diary.