‖ œstrum
(ˈiːstrəm, ˈɛs-)
Also 8 œstron.
[med.L., var. of œstrus (Isidore Orig. xii. viii. 15).]
1. = œstrus 1; in quot. 1656 applied to a flea; in 1854 a parasite infesting fish (a sense of Gr. οἶστρος).
| 1656 S. Holland Zara (1719) 17 Defying the eagerness of those sanguine-coated æstrums. 1706 Phillips, Œstrum, or Œstrus, the Gad-Bee. 1778 Sketches for Tabernacle Frames 26 Madd'ning Mares, by Lust or Oestron stung. 1854 Badham Halieut. 186 The conduct of the poor thunny under the scourge of the sea œstrum. |
2. a. fig. = œstrus 2 a.
| 1663 Butler Hud. i. ii. 495 What Oestrum, what Phrenetick Mood Makes you thus lavish of your Blood? 1728 Jefferson Notes Virginia 234 Love is the peculiar œstrum of the poet. 1848 Clough Bothie iii, Other times stung by the œstrum of some swift-working conception. 1886 Symonds Renaiss. It., Cath. React. (1898) VII. ix. 83 When..the real divine oestrum descends upon him. |
b. Physiol. = œstrus 2 b.
| 1772 Ann. Reg. 173/1 The times, in which animals of different species feel the œstrum, by which they are stimulated to the propagation of their respective kinds. 1857 in Mayne Expos. Lex., Œstrum, Œstrus. 1878 G. Fleming Text-bk. Vet. Obstetr. 55 The rutting, heat, œstrum, or venereal œstrum of animals is analogous to ‘menstruation’ in woman. 1900 [see oestrus 2 b]. 1925 [see acceptance 1 b]. 1939 Brit. Birds XXXII. 251 The ‘false œstrum’ which temporarily affects so many birds during this period. 1963 Jubb & Kennedy Path. Domestic Animals I. i. 11/1 Oestrum may not occur, or be irregular. |