leprosy
noun/ˈlɛpɹəsi/
Etymology From Norman leprosie, from Middle French leprosie (“leprosy & similar skin diseases”), probably from leprous (“leprous”) + -ie (“-y”) but possibly from Medieval Latin leprōsia (leprōsus + -ia) although this only historically attested in reference to leprosariums. The shift of sense from psoriasis to Hansen's disease occurred in large part from the use of λέπρα (lépra) to translate Hebrew צרעת (“tzaraath”) in the Septuagint and its subsequent use in the New Testament and Late Latin.
Medicine, Pathology, Sciences Usually An infectious disease caused by the bacterium Mycobacterium leprae, gradually producing nerve damage and patches of skin necrosis and historically handled by permanently quarantining its sufferers.
- Then is it surely a leprosy1535, Myles Coverdale, Bible, Lev. 8:3
- The great London doctors knew nothing about leprosy and cared less.1925, Frank Harris, My Life and Loves, volume III, page 183:
2 more examples
- The new drug—diaminodiphenylsulphone... offers the first certain cure... and leprosy can be cured in six months1954, Elspeth J. Huxley, Four Guineas, page 267:
- Ten words exactly. After ten it's extra. You see, Daddy thinks of these things. If I had leprosy, there'd be a cable: "Gee, kid, tough. Sincerely hope nose doesn't fall off. Love."1972, Jay Presson Allen, Cabaret, spoken by Sally Bowles (Liza Minnelli):
Medicine, Sciences Dated, Proscribed, Usually Similar contagious skin diseases causing light patches of scaly skin, particularly psoriasis, syphilis, vitiligo, scabies, and (biblical) the various diseases considered "tzaraath" in the Old Testament.
Figuratively, Usually Anything considered similarly permanent, harmful, and communicable, particularly when such a thing should be handled by avoidance or isolation of its victims.
- Sin is a spiritual leprosy.
› A contagious disease causing similar effects…
Abbreviation, Ellipsis, Usually Ellipsis of murine leprosy or feline leprosy (“diseases caused in rodents and cats by Mycobacterium lepraemurium”).
Veterenary medicine
Obsolete, Usually Synonym of mange and glanders in horses.
Veterenary medicine
- Synonyms
- Hansensiasis, Hansen's disease, lepra, mesel, measles, elephantiasis, Greek elephantiasis, Greek leprosy, Greek lepra, leprosity, bastard scurvy, leper
- Derived terms
27 terms
antileprosy, antileprotic, Arabian leprosy, bastard leprosy, feline leprosy, fretting leprosy, Greek leprosy, histoid leprosy, leproid, lepromatoid leprosy, lepromatous leprosy, leprophobia, leprosied, leprosity, leprostatic, leprosy bacilus, leprosylike, leprosy village, leprotic, multibacillary leprosy, murine leprosy, neural leprosy, nodular leprosy, paucibacillary leprosy, rat leprosy, tuberculoid leprosy, white leprosy- Related terms
- leper, leprologic, leprological, leprologist, leprology, leproma, lepromatic, lepromatoid, lepromatous, leprous, tetter