murrain

/'mʌrin/

Thân thiện

A farmer checks his cattle for signs of murrain.

Definition

1. Noun:
   • A highly infectious and often fatal disease affecting cattle or other domestic animals: "Murrain" refers to any of various infectious diseases of livestock, particularly those with plague-like symptoms such as high fever and rapid mortality.
   • (Archaic) A plague or pestilence: Historically, the term was used more broadly to denote any destructive plague or blight.

Usage Examples

• Noun:
  • The village lost half its herd to a devastating murrain. (The village lost half its herd to a devastating cattle plague.)
  • Ancient texts describe seasons of famine followed by murrain. (Ancient texts describe seasons of famine followed by livestock disease.)

Advanced Usage

• Used in archaic curses or imprecations: In older English, "murrain" was used in exclamations to express anger or condemnation.
  • "A murrain on you!" (A plague upon you!)

Variants and Related Words

• Pestilence (n): A fatal epidemic disease, especially bubonic plague.
• Epizootic (n): A disease outbreak affecting many animals of one kind at the same time.

Synonyms

• Cattle plague
• Rinderpest (a specific viral disease, now eradicated, that was a classic example of murrain)
• Livestock epidemic

Related Idioms

• (Archaic) "A murrain on/upon...": An old curse wishing a plague upon someone or something.
  • "A murrain on this rusty sword!" (A plague on this rusty sword!)

Học thuật

Noun

1. any disease of domestic animals that resembles a plague