murrain
Part of speech: noun
Morphological type: simple
Topics: biology
botany
medicine
natural-sciences
pathology
phytopathology
sciences
veterinary
zoology
Etymology: The noun is derived from Late Middle English morein, morine, moreyn (“(widespread) death; widespread sickness, plague; fatal disease; carnage; carrion”), from Anglo-Norman morine, mourine, moreyn (“death; widespread sickness, plague; carrion; cattle disease”), Middle French morine, and Old French morine, mourine, murine (“widespread sickness, plague; animal which has died from a disease”), from Late Latin morina (“plague”), probably from Latin morior (“to die; to decay, wither”).
The adjective and adverb are derived from the noun.
Cognates
* Italian morìa (“plague”)
* Latin morticīnus (“that has died naturally, dead; (relational) carrion”) (Medieval Latin morticinium)
* Occitan moria (“death; plague”)
* Old French morie (“death”) mourie (“flesh of animals that have died of disease”) (Middle French murie)
* Portuguese morrinha (“cattle plague”)
* Spanish morriña (“cattle plague”)
Inflected forms:
form: murrains
pos: noun
tags: plural
form: murrein
pos: noun
tags: alternative
form: murrion
pos: noun
tags: alternative
Senses:
gloss: Infectious disease; pestilence, plague; (countable) sometimes used in curses such as a murrain on someone: an outbreak of such a disease; a plague.
pos: noun
tags: archaic
uncountable
examples: How a murryen came this chaunce, (ſay Tib) vnto our dame?
For heuen it ſelfe ſhall their ſucceſſe enuy, / And them vvith plagues and murrins peſtilent / Conſume, till all their vvarlike puiſſaunce be ſpent.
Rafe. […] [T]his ſhooe I durſt be ſworne / Once couered the inſtep of my Jane: / […] / By this old ſhooe I shall find out my wife. / Firke. Ha ha olde ſhoo, that wert new, how a murren came this ague fit of fooliſhnes upon thee?
[A] red murrion ath thy Iades trickes.
VVhat the Murrion care I vvho you are, hold off your Fingers, or Ile cut them vvith this Diamond.
[M]any Ievves vvere there executed by occaſion of a murren, procured (as vvas ſuſpected) by Ievviſh exorciſmes intending a plague to the men, and not a murren to the beaſts, if their vvorking had ſorted: but the Ievves ſaid it vvas but a pretence to depriue them of their riches.
But vvhat the murrain have they to do vvith Quality, vvhy don't their Husbands make 'em mind their Shops?
[A]t last, with a murrain to her, she cast her bewitching eye upon me.
Ah—Murrain upon all Rogues and VVhores, I ſay; but I am grovvn ſo cunning novv, the Deel himſelf can't handle me.
Let him take what he gets, an' a murrain to him! he had no business to bring her here to torment us all, after the dear lady we have lost.
"A murrain take thee," rejoined the swineherd; "wilt thou talk of such things, while a terrible storm of thunder and lightning is raging within a few miles of us?["]
A murrain on thy voice! it is enough to fray every hawk from the perch.
My own idea that a murrain will shortly break out in the commercial class, and that the cause will subsequently disclose itself in the ready sale of all rejected pictures, has been called an unsound use of analogy; but there are minds that will not hesitate to rob even the neglected painter of his solace.
A murrain on you, Reverend Apse / I hope you get caught in a vicious moral lapse.
gloss: A widespread affliction, calamity, or destructive influx, especially when seen as divine retribution; a plague.
pos: noun
tags: archaic
countable
figuratively
examples: Usura [a personification of usury] is a murrain, usura / blunteth the needle in the maid’s hand / and stoppeth the spinner’s cunning.
gloss: Any of several highly infectious diseases of cattle or other livestock, such as anthrax, babesiosis, or rinderpest; or a particular epizootic thereof; also, an infectious disease affecting other animals, such as poultry.
pos: noun
tags: countable
historical
examples: water murrain
Il'e ſtrike thee [Earth] vvith a laſting barrenneſſe. / No more ſhall plenty crovvne thy fertill brovves, / Il'e breake thy plovves, thy Oxen murren-ſtrike: […]
[A] Church-mans Juriſdiction is no more but to vvatch over his Flock in ſeaſon, and out of ſeaſon, to deal by ſvveet and efficacious Inſtructions, gentle Admonitions, and ſometimes rounder Reproofs; […] againſt a perſiſting ſtubbornes, or the fear of a reprobate ſenſe, a timely ſeparation from the Flock by that interdictive Sentence, leſt his Converſation unprohibited, or unbranded, might breath a peſtilential murrein into the other Sheepe.
The murrain among Bees is very rare: other diſeaſes they are ſubject too, eſpecially to a ſcovvring, by gathering, or feeding on Tithymal, […]
The next year vvas calamitous, bringing ſtrange fluxes upon men, and murren upon Cattel.
[page 47] [B]ecauſe Murreins among the Larger Cattle, and Rots among the Smaller, are the moſt Fatal of Diſeaſes, and ſvveep them avvay by Herds and Flocks, I ſhall (from Long Experience) ſhovv the neareſt vvay to fore-ſee the approaching Danger, […] [page 48] To prevent therefore this Murrein, Long-ſought; or as ſome call it, Gurget: If you are conſtrained to Paſture your Beaſts, bleed them as ſoon as ever the Leaf begins to fall; peg their Ears and Devv-laps vvith Helebore, or Bears-foot, a Plant ſo called; […]
gloss: An infectious disease affecting plants.
pos: noun
tags: broadly
countable
examples: potato murrain
[H]e had reason to think that a murrain had fallen over the whole of the potato crops in England, and that, if it extended to Ireland, the most serious consequences must ensue.
gloss: A poor-quality green-salted animal hide.
pos: noun
tags: countable
obsolete
examples: Green salted are those that have been salted and are thoroughly cured. […] In green-salted hides and skins, those weighing […] 14 to 25 pounds, if plump, kip, but if thin and poor are called runners or murrains, and are sold at two thirds the price of good kip; […]
gloss: Death, especially from an infectious disease.
pos: noun
tags: obsolete
uncountable
examples: Moreyn dethe mortalité […] mourine […]
gloss: Rotting flesh, especially of an animal which has died from a disease; carrion.
pos: noun
tags: obsolete
uncountable
examples: The fold ſtands empty, in the drovvned fiend, / And crovves are fatted vvith the murrion flocke.
[I]f our freſh vvits cannot turne the plots / Of ſuch a mouldy murrion on it ſelfe; / Rich cloathes, choyſe fare, and a true friend at a call, / VVith all the pleaſures the night yeelds, forſake vs.
Derived words: murrained
murrainly
steppe murrain
water murrain
Translations: