the great epidemic of a disease thought to be bubonic plague, that killed a large proportion of the population of Europe in the mid 14th century. It originated in central Asia and China and spread rapidly through Europe, carried by the fleas of black rats, reaching England in 1348 and killing between one third and one half of the population in a matter of months.
黑死病(14世纪流行于欧洲的腺鼠疫)。
"a modern term (compare with earlier