styfsiekte, noun

/ˈsteɪfsiktə/
Forms:
steuve ziekt, stiftziehteShow more Also steuve ziekt, stiftziehte, stijfsiekte, stijfziekte, styf-ziekte, styff-ziekte, stywesiekte, styweziekte.
Origin:
Afrikaans, South African DutchShow more Afrikaans, earlier South African Dutch stijfziekte (stijf stiff + ziekte disease).
1. Pathology. Any of a variety of diseases of cattle and sheep causing partial or complete paralysis, particularly: a. Poisoning by the plant Crotalaria burkeana of the Leguminosae. b. The result of phosphate deficiency. c. three days’ sickness. In these senses also called stiff-sickness (sense 1).
[1863 Queenstown Free Press 3 Feb.Appoplexy [sic] in sheep...This sickness is known to be very fatal among sheep, and is what the Dutch usually call ‘Styff-ziekte,’ for after a few fits the animal always died.]
1897 ‘F. Macnab’ On Veldt & Farm 230Another mysterious complaint is stiftziehte, which appears to be the same as..lumziehte, or paralysis, in the colony.
1905 D. Hutcheon in Flint & Gilchrist Science in S. Afr. 352Acute Rheumatism — ‘Stijfsiekte’ in Sheep..is characterised by acute inflammation of the sheaths of the tendons and capsular ligaments of the joints of all four limbs.
1907 T.R. Sim Forests & Forest Flora 202In this Colony the genera Crotalaria, Lessertia, Indigofera, and Tephrosia are under suspicion of producing the leguminous poisoning of cattle known locally as ‘stijfziekte.’
1911 Agric. Jrnl of Union Feb. 13 (Pettman)The above facts appear to me to indicate that the diseased condition termed stijfziekte is due to defective nutrition of the bones of the affected animal, and that this arises from the absence of a sufficiency of phosphates in the vegetation upon which the animal feeds.
1916 Farmer’s Weekly 20 Dec. 1498Styfziekte is a distinct trouble from gal-lamziekte. It is a disease of the bones and joints..not nearly so serious.
1937 Handbk for Farmers (Dept of Agric. & Forestry) 480Two kinds of stywesiekte are recognized, namely the so-called aphosphorosis..and the stywesiekte caused by ingestion of the plant Crotalaria burkeana (Klappers).
1978, 1979 [see stiff-sickness sense 1].
2. combinations
styfsiektebossie, also styfsiekteboschje, styfsiektebosje/-ˌbɔsi/ [Afrikaans, bossie from Dutch boschje, bosje small bush], the plant Crotalaria burkeana, causing leguminous poisoning in cattle;
dronkgras sense c; stiff-sickness bush, see stiff-sickness sense 2.
1912 S. Afr. Agric. Jrnl June 780 (Pettman)The cause of this stiff-sickness had been experimentally established by feeding of the so-called stijfziekte boschje (Crotolaria burkeana).
1917 R. Marloth Dict. of Common Names of Plants 77Stijf’ziekte’bos. Crotalaria Burkeana (Tr.).
1966 C.A. Smith Common Names 443Styfsiektebossie, Crotalaria burkeana...Cattle eating the plants develop a disease known as styfsiekte (stiffsickness) marked by an abnormal growth of the hoofs...The vernacular name appears to have been used as far back as about 1880.
1979 T. Gutsche There Was a Man 244The Transvaal farmers had long ascribed it (sc. the disease) to the stijfziekte bosje, a tough little plant with hard bean-pods.
Poisoning by the plant Crotalaria burkeana of the Leguminosae.
The result of phosphate deficiency.
three days’ sickness. In these senses also called stiff-sickness (sense 1).
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18631979

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Afrikaans
stumptail, nounn.stywe pap, nounn.
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