Crossword clues for murrain
The Collaborative International Dictionary
Murrain \Mur"rain\, n. [OE. moreine, OF. morine, fr. OF. morir,
murir, 8die, L. mori, moriri.] (Far.)
An infectious and fatal disease among cattle.
--Bacon.
A murrain on you, may you be afflicted with a pestilent
disease.
--Shak.
Murrain \Mur"rain\, a. Having, or afflicted with, murrain.
Douglas Harper's Etymology Dictionary
"cattle plague," early 14c., from Anglo-French moryn, Old French moraine "pestilence" (12c.), probably from mourir "to die," from Latin mori (see mortal (adj.)).
Wiktionary
n. 1 (context archaic English) plague, infectious disease, pestilence. 2 (context now chiefly historical veterinary medicine English) Any of several highly infectious diseases of cattle such as anthrax.
WordNet
n. any plaguelike disease of domestic animals
Wikipedia
Murrain is an antiquated term for various infectious diseases affecting cattle and sheep. It literally means "death" and was used in medieval times to represent just that. Murrain did not refer to a specific disease, but was an umbrella term for what are now recognized as a number of different diseases, including rinderpest, erysipelas, foot-and-mouth disease, anthrax, and streptococcus infections. Some of these could also affect humans. The term murrain also referred to an epidemic of such a disease. There were major sheep and cattle murrains in Europe during the 14th century, which, combined with the Little Ice Age, resulted in the Great Famine of 1315-1317, weakening the population of Europe before the onset of the Black Death in 1348.
The term murrain is also used in some Bible translations relating to the fifth plague brought upon Egypt.
Exodus 9:3: "Behold, the hand of the LORD is upon thy cattle which is in the field, upon the horses, upon the asses, upon the camels, upon the oxen, and upon the sheep: there shall be a very grievous murrain."
"Pestilence", which is mentioned 47 times in 46 verses of the Bible, can be translated "murrain" by Christian apologists. [Enhanced Strong’s Lexicon]. see Psalms 91:3 KJV
The word in Hebrew is דֶּבֶר "dever" (Strong's # 01698), derived from the primitive root "dabar" in the sense of "to destroy."
In some parts of Scotland, force-fire was believed to cure it and in some remote regions of Cumbria, England, murrain is still used as a term for a curse, specifically a curse placed upon land or livestock. It is believed that the medieval term has, by a process of syncreticism become synonymous with witchcraft. This usage inspired the ATV television play, Murrain, written by Nigel Kneale, which was broadcast on 27 July 1975 as part of the channel's Against the Crowd drama strand.
Usage examples of "murrain".
Because of the threat of murrain, the local oxherd would not bring his oxen for plowing, so they had to laboriously turn over the earth for the garden by hand.
On the first of May a convocation of Druids was held in the royal palace of the King of Connaught, and two fires were lit, between which cattle were driven, as a preventive of murrain and other pestilential disorders.
If there was any healing that would banish the murrain, it would have been found by now.
Three of the children had sores around their lips, although he had never heard of murrain striking people.
He believed in the murrain, and he feared that without his supervision the outbreak would spread.
No trace of the murrain had blighted the monastic herds, Rat-bold had told him last night, but the prior had spoken the words in the way a man relays information that his listener already knows.
Half-starved mud-scrabblers incapable of distinguishing dream from reality, ascribing crop-failure, blight and murrain to supernatural beings, imagining they could protect themselves by sacrificing most of what remained to themwhereupon, of course, weakness and fatigue allowed dreams to invade their minds ever further.
Some filthy plague spawned of the far south is rife in Forb, and a murrain is abroad among the livestock, and the very brave-trees are wilting!
I do know thee for that same gentle Motley did save me from Black Lewin--a murrain seize him!
If I cannot send disease into families, and murrain among the herds, can I attain the same end so well as by prolonging the lives of those who can serve the purpose of destruction as effectually?
I could almost wish it might either cure or kill me, for I am weary of lying here like an ox dying of the murrain, when tambours are beating, horses stamping, and trumpets sounding without.
Oxford, with a murrain on him, instead of lurching about here carrying tales and ogling the maidens?
London was burnt to the ground, a great murrain of cattle happened for the first time in the English nation, and a terrible plague carried off many thousands of the people.
Then they would scramble for the charred brands and bear them home to be charms against fever and lightning and the murrain until the next Midsummer Eve.
Whole villages, ruined by murrains, pests, fires, or raids of new immigrants, were often abandoned by their inhabitants, who went anywhere in search of new abodes.