late 14c., pestilencial, "producing or tending to produce an infectious disease, characterized by the plague," from Medieval Latin pestilentialis, from Latin pestilentia "plague" (see pestilence). Weakened sense of "mischievous, pernicious" is from 1530s. Related: Pestilentially.
pesterment
pesticide
pestiferous
pestilence
pestilent
pestilential
pestle
pesto
*pet-
pet
pet peeve