murrain

[ mur-in ]

/ ˈmɜr ɪn /

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noun

Veterinary Pathology. any of various diseases of cattle, as anthrax, foot-and-mouth disease, and Texas fever.

Obsolete. a plague or pestilence.

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Origin of murrain

1300–50; Middle English moreine, moryne<Middle French morine a plague, equivalent to mor(ir) to die (≪ Latin morī) + -ine-ine²

Words nearby murrain

Murphy drip, Murphy-O'Connor, Murphy's Law, murra, murragh, murrain, Murray, Murray cod, murre, murree, murrelet

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2022

How to use murrain in a sentence

We are told that a murrain appeared among the cattle, without any preliminary step.
Epidemics Examined and Explained: or, Living Germs Proved by Analogy to be a Source of Disease|John Grove
It is said by Whewell, that the murrain is supposed to have fallen only on the animals which were in the open pasture.
Epidemics Examined and Explained: or, Living Germs Proved by Analogy to be a Source of Disease|John Grove
Virgil in the third Georgic speaks of a murrain among cattle.
Epidemics Examined and Explained: or, Living Germs Proved by Analogy to be a Source of Disease|John Grove
When ye saw me here, so strangely seated, where I have neither right nor interest, what a murrain!
The Works of Robert Louis Stevenson - Swanston Edition Vol. 8 (of 25)|Robert Louis Stevenson

A murrain of cattle followed, and the poor were dying of hunger and pestilence.
The History of England|T.F. Tout

British Dictionary definitions for murrain

murrain

/ (ˈmʌrɪn) /

noun archaic

any plaguelike disease in cattle

a plague

Word Origin for murrain

C14: from Old French morine, from morir to die, from Latin morī

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012