a highly contagious viral skin disease of horses, characterized by fever and poxlike lesions on the mouth, leg, etc.
horsepox in American English
(ˈhɔrsˌpɑks)
noun
Veterinary Science
a disease in horses caused by a virus and characterized by eruptions in the mouth and on the skin
Word origin
[1650–60; horse + pox]This word is first recorded in the period 1650–60. Other words that entered Englishat around the same time include: agency, burlesque, parade, pony, syllabus