murrain

1. (archaic, uncountable) Infectious disease; pestilence, plague; (countable) sometimes used in curses such as a murrain on someone: an outbreak of such a disease; a plague.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?"archaicuncountable

2. (countable, figurative, archaic) A widespread affliction, calamity, or destructive influx, especially when seen as divine retribution; a plague.Examples: "Usura [a personification of usury] is a murrain, usura / blunteth the needle in the maid’s hand / and stoppeth the spinner’s cunning."archaiccountablefiguratively

3. (countable, veterinary medicine, chiefly historical) 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.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."countablehistorical

4. (countable, by extension, phytopathology) An infectious disease affecting plants.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."broadlycountable

5. (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; […]"countableobsolete

6. (obsolete)Examples: "Moreyn dethe mortalité […] mourine […]"obsoleteuncountable