murrain noun & adjective. ['mʌrɪn] ME.
[Anglo-Norman moryn, Old & mod. French morine, moraine, from stem of mourir, morir, from Proto-Romance alt. of Latin mori die.]
A. noun.
1. (A) plague, (a) pestilence, esp. the potato blight during the Irish famine in the mid 19th cent. Formerly freq. in imprecations and exclamations. arch. ME.
■ O. Nash A murrain on every bridesmaid and every usher!

2. An infectious disease of livestock; spec. babesiosis. LME.

3. Flesh of animals killed by disease; dead flesh, carrion. LME-E17.

4. Death, mortality, esp. by plague or pestilence. Also (rare), slaughter. LME-M17.
B. adjective. Ill-conditioned; contemptible; excessive. L16-E18.

■ murrained adjective killed by murrain; infected with murrain: E19.

[TahlilGaran] English Dictionary ▲