leprosy
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.
Other meanings
Similar contagious skin diseases causing light patches of scaly skin, particularly psoriasis, syphilis, vitiligo, scabies, and the various diseases considered "tzaraath" in the Old Testament.
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.”
Related words
- leproid
- leprosied
- antileprosy
- antileprotic
- Arabian leprosy
- bastard leprosy
- feline leprosy
- fretting leprosy
- Greek leprosy
- histoid leprosy
- lepromatoid leprosy
- lepromatous leprosy
Word history
From Medieval Latin "leprōsia".
Where this comes from
This definition is adapted from “leprosy” on Wiktionary, by its contributors, published under CC BY-SA 4.0. This page is published under the same licence.