cattle plague: meaning, definition, pronunciation and examples
Very Low / ArchaicHistorical, Technical (Veterinary/Agricultural History), Literary
Quick answer
What does “cattle plague” mean?
An old-fashioned term for a highly contagious and often fatal viral disease affecting cattle and other hoofed animals.
Audio
Pronunciation
Definition
Meaning and Definition
An old-fashioned term for a highly contagious and often fatal viral disease affecting cattle and other hoofed animals; rinderpest.
Historically, any epidemic disease devastating to cattle herds, causing severe economic and agricultural loss. In modern discourse, it can metaphorically refer to any widespread ruinous force affecting a group or system.
Dialectal Variation
British vs American Usage
Differences
No significant difference in meaning or usage. The term is equally historical in both varieties. 'Rinderpest' is the more standard technical term globally.
Connotations
Connotes historical calamity, agrarian crisis, and pre-modern veterinary science.
Frequency
Extremely rare in contemporary use in both regions, slightly more likely in UK texts due to historical references to 19th-century outbreaks.
Grammar
How to Use “cattle plague” in a Sentence
[The] cattle plague [verb e.g., devastated, struck, spread] [location/herd]An outbreak of cattle plagueProtection against cattle plagueVocabulary
Collocations
Examples
Examples of “cattle plague” in a Sentence
verb
British English
- The herd was cattle-plagued (archaic/rare).
- The region cattle-plagued for decades (archaic/rare).
American English
- The herds were cattle-plagued (archaic/rare).
- The frontier was cattle-plagued in the 1880s (archaic/rare).
adjective
British English
- cattle-plague devastation (noun compound)
- a cattle-plague year (noun compound)
American English
- cattle-plague outbreak (noun compound)
- cattle-plague research (noun compound)
Usage
Meaning in Context
Business
Not used in modern business contexts except in historical case studies about agricultural economics.
Academic
Used in historical, agricultural, and veterinary history papers discussing pre-20th century epidemics.
Everyday
Virtually never used in everyday conversation.
Technical
The specific term 'rinderpest' is preferred. 'Cattle plague' may appear in older technical documents or historical reviews.
Vocabulary
Synonyms of “cattle plague”
Vocabulary
Antonyms of “cattle plague”
Watch out
Common Mistakes When Using “cattle plague”
- Using it to refer to modern diseases like foot-and-mouth or BSE.
- Treating it as a current, common term.
- Incorrect pluralisation (*cattle plagues) – typically used as a non-count noun for the disease itself.
FAQ
Frequently Asked Questions
No, they are completely different. Cattle plague refers to the eradicated viral disease rinderpest. Mad cow disease (BSE) is a prion disease.
No. Rinderpest (cattle plague) was officially declared eradicated worldwide in 2011, making it only the second disease (after smallpox) to be eradicated.
No, it is an archaic and historical term. The standard technical term is 'rinderpest'.
It primarily affected cattle and other hoofed animals like buffalo, yak, and various wildlife species.
An old-fashioned term for a highly contagious and often fatal viral disease affecting cattle and other hoofed animals.
Cattle plague is usually historical, technical (veterinary/agricultural history), literary in register.
Cattle plague: in British English it is pronounced /ˈkætl̩ pleɪɡ/, and in American English it is pronounced /ˈkætl̩ pleɪɡ/. Tap the audio buttons above to hear it.
Phrases
Idioms & Phrases
- “Like a cattle plague (metaphor for something that spreads ruinously)”
Learning
Memory Aids
Mnemonic
Imagine medieval cattle with PLAGUE doctor masks.
Conceptual Metaphor
A CALAMITY IS A PLAGUE (extended to livestock).
Practice
Quiz
'Cattle plague' is a historical term for which disease?