Meanings
nounpesticide (countable and uncountable, plural pesticides)
plural pesticides
- countableuncountableAnything, especially a synthetic substance but also any substance (e.g. sulfur), or virus, bacterium, or other organism, which kills or suppresses the activities of pests.
Pesticide and fertilizer use has been recorded since ancient times, […]
2011, Allan S. Felsot, Pesticides and Health: Myths vs. Realities, page 43 more examples
“Twelve pesticides commonly applied to citrus groves are slated for study in the project’s plots,” reports Tom S. Bellows, UC Riverside assistant entomologist. They include four acaricides (Morestan, Kelthane, Pictran, Vendex), four thripsicides (Cygon, Carzol, Orthene, Sabadilla), and four scalicides (Parathion, Supracide, Lorsban, Sevin).
1983 May 26, “Pesticide residue effects under study”, in The Californian, volume 25, number 16, Temecula, Calif., page A-11Too much pesticide was applied and then washed from the fields by rains and surface runoff.
2001, David McConnell, The Good Earth: Companion Guide, McGraw-Hill Higher Education, →ISBN, page 1.12Diluted neem oil can be effective as a pesticide and can control various fungal diseases, such as powdery mildew, on animals and plants.
2013, Meg Stout, The Complete Idiot's Guide to Aquaponic Gardening, →ISBN
Origin
- Englishpest
- Proto-Indo-European*kh₂eyd-
- Proto-Indo-European*kh₂éydeti
- Proto-Italic*kaidō
- Latincaedō
- Englishpesticide
Translations
Bulgarian пестицид
- пестицид (pesticid)substance used to kill or repress the activities of pests
Catalan plaguicida, pesticida
- plaguicidasubstance used to kill or repress the activities of pests
- pesticidasubstance used to kill or repress the activities of pests
Chinese Cantonese 除害劑 /除害剂
- 除害劑 /除害剂 (ceoi⁴ hoi⁶ zai¹)substance used to kill or repress the activities of pests
Chinese Mandarin 殺蟲劑 /杀虫剂, 農藥 /农药
- 殺蟲劑 /杀虫剂 (shāchóngjì)substance used to kill or repress the activities of pests
- 農藥 /农药 (nóngyào)substance used to kill or repress the activities of pests
- 除害劑 /除害剂 (chúhài jì)substance used to kill or repress the activities of pests
Czech pesticid
- pesticidsubstance used to kill or repress the activities of pests
Dutch pesticide, verdelgingsmiddel
- pesticidesubstance used to kill or repress the activities of pests
- verdelgingsmiddelsubstance used to kill or repress the activities of pests
Esperanto pesticido
- pesticidosubstance used to kill or repress the activities of pests
Estonian pestitsiid, taimekaitsemürk
- pestitsiidsubstance used to kill or repress the activities of pests
- taimekaitsemürksubstance used to kill or repress the activities of pests
Finnish tuholaismyrkky
- tuholaismyrkkysubstance used to kill or repress the activities of pests
French pesticide
- pesticidesubstance used to kill or repress the activities of pests
German Pestizid
- Pestizidsubstance used to kill or repress the activities of pests
Hindi कीटनाशक
- कीटनाशक (kīṭnāśak)substance used to kill or repress the activities of pests
Hungarian peszticid
- peszticidsubstance used to kill or repress the activities of pests
Icelandic skordýraeitur, plágueyðir
- skordýraeitursubstance used to kill or repress the activities of pests
- plágueyðirsubstance used to kill or repress the activities of pests
- eyðingarlyfsubstance used to kill or repress the activities of pests
Indonesian pestisida, racun hama
- pestisidasubstance used to kill or repress the activities of pests
- racun hamasubstance used to kill or repress the activities of pests
- racun pembasmi hamasubstance used to kill or repress the activities of pests
Italian pesticida
- pesticidasubstance used to kill or repress the activities of pests
Japanese 殺虫剤, 農薬
- 殺虫剤 (satchūzai)substance used to kill or repress the activities of pests
- 農薬 (nōyaku)substance used to kill or repress the activities of pests
Malay pestisid, racun perosak
- pestisidsubstance used to kill or repress the activities of pests
- racun perosaksubstance used to kill or repress the activities of pests
Polish pestycyd
- pestycydsubstance used to kill or repress the activities of pests
Portuguese pesticida
- pesticidasubstance used to kill or repress the activities of pests
Romanian pesticid
- pesticidsubstance used to kill or repress the activities of pests
Russian пестици́д
- пестици́д (pesticíd)substance used to kill or repress the activities of pests
Spanish pesticida, plaguicida
- pesticidasubstance used to kill or repress the activities of pests
- plaguicidasubstance used to kill or repress the activities of pests
Swedish bekämpningsmedel, pesticid
- bekämpningsmedelsubstance used to kill or repress the activities of pests
- pesticidsubstance used to kill or repress the activities of pests
Tagalog lasonangol, pestisidyo
- lasonangolsubstance used to kill or repress the activities of pests
- pestisidyosubstance used to kill or repress the activities of pests
Turkish pestisit
- pestisitsubstance used to kill or repress the activities of pests
Ukrainian пестици́д
- пестици́д (pestycýd)substance used to kill or repress the activities of pests
Rhymes & wordplay
Anagrams
Cite this entry
APA
pesticide. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 5, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/pesticide
MLA
“pesticide.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/pesticide. Accessed November 5, 2026.
Chicago
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “pesticide,” accessed November 5, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/pesticide.
Source: pesticide on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.