murrain
noun
No English definition recorded for this entry.
L324273 on Wikidata ↗Wiktionary
Pronunciation: /ˈmʌɹ(ɪ)n/ / /-ɹeɪn/ / /ˈmʌɹən/
adj
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”)
- Disgusting or offensive, as if having an infectious disease; contemptible, despicable, loathsome, plaguey.
“No, ich know thars not within this land / A muryner Cat than Gyb is, betwixt the tems [Thames] and Tyne, […]”
“[T]hou foule and murren lyer, / I cannot novv forbeare thee any longer, […]”
- Used as an intensifier: to a great extent; extreme, intense.
“But my Lady vvas in ſuch murrain haſte to be here, that ſet out ſhe vvould, thof' I tould her, it vvas Childermas Day.”
adv
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”)
- Used as an intensifier: extremely, very.
“It is a murrion crafty drab, and froward to be pleaſed.”
“La there; And that ſame's a murrain vviſe boy, if you mark him; and vvill ſee a thing, I vvarrant you, as ſoon as the vviſeſt of us all, vvere he tvvice as old again.”
noun
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”)
- Infectious disease; pestilence, plague; (countable) sometimes used in curses such as a murrain on someone: an outbreak of such a disease; a plague.
“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.”
- A widespread affliction, calamity, or destructive influx, especially when seen as divine retribution; a plague.
“Usura [a personification of usury] is a murrain, usura / blunteth the needle in the maid’s hand / and stoppeth the spinner’s cunning.”
- 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.
“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: […]”
- An infectious disease affecting plants.
“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.”
- A poor-quality green-salted animal hide.
“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; […]”
- Death, especially from an infectious disease.
“Moreyn dethe mortalité […] mourine […]”
- Rotting flesh, especially of an animal which has died from a disease; carrion.
“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.”