rinderpest, noun
- Origin:
- English, German, LatinShow more English from German, Rind, Rinder cattle + Pest from Latin pestis plague.
Pathology
A virulent, highly infectious disease affecting ruminant animals, especially cattle; used with reference to the outbreak of the disease in South Africa in 1896: a. As a landmark of time, referred to especially by illiterate people. b. figurative. In expressions such as before the rinderpest and since the rinderpest: ‘a long time ago’; ‘for a long time’.
1903 E.F. Knight S. Afr. after War 315Following the rinderpest and the Matabele rebellion came the recent three years’ Boer War.
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