A disease or skin condition in animals, particularly cattle, that causes painful blisters and inflammation, often with a bitter or acrid character.
From 'bitter' combined with 'blain' (Old English 'blegen,' meaning blister or sore). This compound was used in agricultural contexts to describe livestock afflictions where the sore appears bitter or caustic-smelling.
Before modern veterinary medicine, farmers had to identify diseases by appearance alone—names like 'bitterblain' told a farmer exactly what to expect: bitter-smelling blisters that could spread through a herd and devastate livestock profits.
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