murrain

American  

[mur-in] / ˈmɜr ɪn /

noun

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

2. Obsolete. a plague or pestilence.

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murrain British  

/ ˈmʌrɪn /

noun

1. any plaguelike disease in cattle

2. a plague

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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

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

Only, in return, do not suffer our cattle to die of murrain, or our crops wither up for lack of rain.

From Hair-Breadth Escapes The Adventures of Three Boys in South Africa by Adams, H.C.

Everything was withered up, and our cattle carried off by the murrain.

From 'Midst the Wild Carpathians by J?kai, M?r

Besides these periodical sacrifices, others are made by single mootahs, and even by individuals, to avert any threatening calamity from sickness, murrain, or other causes.

From Omens and Superstitions of Southern India by Thurston, Edgar

He’d better go an’ ask some of the neighbors ef it was the murrain sure ’nuf.”

From The History of Louisville, from the Earliest Settlement till the Year 1852 by Casseday, Ben