Horsepox

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A viral infection within the poxvirus family that manifests in equines and can lead to skin lesions and pustule development
2. An infectious disease characterized by the appearance of skin sores in horses and other closely related species due to a specific virus
3. A disease caused by a virus from the poxvirus family that specifically affects horses and results in the formation of pustules and other skin lesions

Etymology: Horsepox is about as plain as compounds get: "horse" joined to "pox," the general name for diseases that produce pustules or sores on the skin. The name describes the disease's most visible symptom in the animal it affects, and the pairing follows the same pattern as older animal-specific names such as cowpox and sheeppox, where a host animal's name is placed in front of "pox." The word is a transparent formation rather than a borrowing, so its meaning comes straight from its two parts. "Pox" itself is the older element, and its history in English is tied to the fact that its sores were so often mistaken for, or compared to, the marks left by a bursting pustule. Horsepox names the disease as it appears in horses and related species, while the virus behind it is a separate matter from the name's construction.