A disease affecting grazing animals, particularly cattle and sheep, characterized by illness from eating poisonous or unsuitable plants while browsing.
From browse (to feed on leaves and shrubs) plus -st ending possibly indicating a state or condition. Related to Old English and Germanic roots meaning 'to graze.'
Medieval and early modern farmers developed rich vocabulary for livestock diseases—browst was their term for the mysterious sicknesses that came from animals eating wrong plants, before anyone understood plant toxicology.
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