Monday words: moraine, murrain

[ersatz-read.livejournal.com]

moraine (mə-rān′), noun
Am accumulation of earth and stones carried and finally deposited by a glacier during a period of warming.  The deposit forms a ridge or mound, marking the glacier's progress.

Etymology:  1700s, French morena, rise in the ground.

The Kettle Moraine State Forest (southern unit) is a short drive from my house.  (Kettles are shallow, sediment-filled bodies of water formed by retreating glaciers.)

murrain (mûr′ĭn), noun
1.  A plaguelike disease in domestic animals (especially cattle) or plants.
2. (obsolete) A plague or pestilence.

Etymolgy:  1300s, old French morine, from Latin mori, to die.

Some might consider twenty presidential hopefuls a murrain.

Comments

[prettygoodword.livejournal.com]

Words not to be confused ...

[kryptyd.livejournal.com]

Ahh I remember moraines from school geography. I enjoyed drawing diagrams of them.

[med_cat]

An interesting pair of words :)