Sentence:  <WSD>Ergot</WSD> first appeared on the stage of history in the early Middle Ages, as the cause of outbreaks of mass poisonings affecting thousands of persons at a time. The illness, whose connection with <WSD>ergot</WSD> was for a long time obscure, appeared in two characteristic forms, one gangrenous (ergotismus gangraenosus) and the other convulsive (ergotismus convulsivus). 
Meaning of the word marked with <WSD> tags:  The sclerotium (wintering stage) of certain fungi in the genus (Claviceps), appearing as a deformed grain in certain cereals and grasses infected by the fungi.