mur·rain [mur-in]

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.

Origin:

1300–50; Middle English moreine, moryne < Middle French morine a plague, equivalent to mor(ir) to die (< Latin morī) + -ine -ine2



Dictionary.com Unabridged

Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2014.

World English Dictionary

murrain (ˈmʌrɪn)



— n

1. any plaguelike disease in cattle

2. a plague



[C14: from Old French morine, from morir to die, from Latin morī]

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition

2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins

Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009



murrain

"cattle plague," early 14c., from O.Fr. moraine "pestilence," from mourir "to die," from L. mori (see mortal).

Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper

Easton's 1897 Bible Dictionary

Murrain definition



Heb. deber, "destruction," a "great mortality", the fifth plague that fell upon the Egyptians (Ex. 9:3). It was some distemper that resulted in the sudden and widespread death of the cattle. It was confined to the cattle of the Egyptians that were in the field (9:6).