Webster
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Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary · 1913

Spavin

Spav′in (spĕv′ĭn), n. [OE. spaveyne, OF. esparvain, F. éparvin; akin to OF. espervier a sparrow hawk, F. épervier, fr. OHG. sparwāri (G. sperber), fr. OHG. sparo sparrow, because this disease makes the horse raise the infirm leg in the manner of a sparrow hawk or sparrow. See Sparrow.] (Far.) A disease of horses characterized by a bony swelling developed on the hock as the result of inflammation of the bones; also, the swelling itself. The resulting lameness is due to the inflammation, and not the bony tumor as popularly supposed. Harbaugh.

Bog spavin, a soft swelling produced by distention of the capsular ligament of the hock; — called also blood spavin. — Bone spavin, spavin attended with exostosis; ordinary spavin.

Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Noah Porter, editor (Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913). Public domain. Text as transcribed by MICRA, Inc., from Project Gutenberg. Changed for Deep Dive Bible: Greek, which our source spelled in Latin letters, set in Greek letters; entries of one spelling merged into one article; Greek words our source left out (shown as “?”), read from the 1898 printing, from the same plates (the Library of Congress’s copy), where the place could be found with certainty.