murrain

noun

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.

   “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.”

2. (archaic, countable, figuratively)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.”

3. (countable, 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.

   “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.”

4. (broadly, countable)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.”

5. (countable, obsolete)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; […]”

6. (obsolete, uncountable)Death, especially from an infectious disease.

   “Moreyn dethe mortalité […] mourine […]”

7. (obsolete, uncountable)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.”

adj

1. (figuratively, obsolete)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, […]”

2. (figuratively, obsolete)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

1. (figuratively, obsolete)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.”