murrain
Americannoun
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Veterinary Pathology. any of various diseases of cattle, as anthrax, foot-and-mouth disease, and Texas fever.
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Obsolete. a plague or pestilence.
noun
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any plaguelike disease in cattle
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a plague
Etymology
Origin of murrain
1300–50; Middle English moreine, moryne < Middle French morine a plague, equivalent to mor ( ir ) to die (≪ Latin morī ) + -ine -ine 2
Explanation
A livestock disease that passes from animal to animal is called a murrain. The distinctive thing about a murrain is that it spreads rapidly. A murrain is an epidemic that's limited to sheep and cattle, though the term is sometimes used to refer generally to a plague or other outbreak of disease. This uncommon noun comes from the Old French word morine, or "pestilence," which is probably rooted in mourir, "to die," from the Latin mori.
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Once again last week, as it had every year since 1911, Sweden's Taxeringskalender was proving a boon to the boastful, a murrain to the miserly and a surefire smash in the bookstalls.
From Time Magazine Archive
John Lyrer, tanner, buys from her fifty-five ox-hides at 3s. 6d. each, and three cow-hides, two steer-hides, one bull-hide, and one murrain ox-hide at 2s. 4d. each, making a total of £10. 8s. 10d.
From Medieval English Nunneries c. 1275 to 1535 by Power, Eileen
Treatment.—In the early stages of joint murrain and its kindred maladies, if inflammatory fever is present, the first and most important step is to relax the external surface, as directed in article Pneumonia, p.
From The American Reformed Cattle Doctor by Dadd, George
He could farry, cure a cow of the murrain, tin a saucepan, dance a jig, knit a stocking, sing a cronane against any young fellow in the county.
From My Lords of Strogue, Vol. I (of III) A Chronicle of Ireland, from the Convention to the Union by Wingfield, Lewis
Indeed dearth, murrain and pestilence went hand in hand, in that unhappy time we call the “good old days.”
From Medieval English Nunneries c. 1275 to 1535 by Power, Eileen
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
