Dictionary

leprous en · ADJ

Pronunciation

• /ˈlɛpɹəs/ (General-American, Received-Pronunciation)
• (Received-Pronunciation) audio

Etymology

From Middle English leprous (“having leprosy or a skin disease with symptoms like leprosy; (alchemy) of metals or minerals: impure; a leper”) [and other forms], from Anglo-Norman leprous, lepros [and other forms], Middle French lepros, lepreux, and Old French leprous, lepros (“having leprosy; a leper”) (modern French lépreux), and from their etymon Late Latin leprosus (“having leprosy; (alchemy) of metals: impure; a leper”), from Latin lepra (“leprosy”) + -ōsus (suffix meaning ‘full of; overly; prone to’ forming adjectives from nouns). Lepra is derived from Ancient Greek λέπρᾱ (léprā, “leprosy”), from λεπῐ́ς (lepĭ́s, “flake, scale; epithelial debris”) (perhaps from λέπω (lépō, “to peel, strip off a husk or rind”) + -ῐς (-ĭs, suffix forming feminine nouns)) + -ᾱ (-ā, suffix forming action nouns from verbs).

Meanings

1. Of or relating to one of the diseases known as leprosy.
   • 1748, Philip Luckombe, A Tour Through Ireland, London: T. Lowndes & Son, 1783, Journey the Fourth, p. 324, […] a dissenting minister […] came to this well, over-run with leprous eruptions on the skin, which had rendered his joints so rigid, that he could neither hold his bridle, nor feed himself […]
   • ‘If they die,’ he said, ‘the cell shall be their tomb. They were put there to die, and be lost. The cell is leprous. Do you understand?’ 1880, Lew Wallace, Ben Hur: A Tale of the Christ, Book Six, Chapter 1:
   • Nor shall the art which you and I need be merely a purple robe woven by a slave and thrown over the whitened body of some leprous king to adorn or to conceal the sin of his luxury, but rather shall it be the noble and beautiful expression of a people’s noble and beautiful life. 1882, Oscar Wilde, “The English Renaissance of Art”, in Essays and Lectures, 4th edition, London: Methuen & Co., published 1913:
2. Infected with one of the diseases known as leprosy.
   • And the Lord said furthermore unto him, Put now thine hand into thy bosom. And he put his hand into his bosom: and when he took it out, behold, his hand was leprous as snow. 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Exodus 4:6:
   • And the cloud departed from off the tabernacle; and, behold, Miriam became leprous, white as snow: and Aaron looked upon Miriam, and, behold, she was leprous. 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Numbers 12:10:
3. Similar to leprosy or its symptoms.
4. Having the appearance of the skin of one infected with leprosy; flaking, peeling, scabby, scurfy.
   • With little room to maneuver or park private cars, New Yorkers are more desperately dependent on taxis than any other city dwellers in the world. And the thousands of cabs that they ride are among the world's sleaziest: cigarette butts and paper coffee cups on the floor, dirty windows, leprous upholstery, chewed gum and sticky candy wrappers on ripped seats, and jagged metal protrusions on the doors waiting to savage the clothing of entering or departing passengers. 1974 April 8, “Drab Cab Goes Fab”, in Time:
   • And why, except that it had moved everywhere with them and they regarded it as one of their possessions, had they kept the hatrack, its glass now leprous, most of its hooks broken, its woodwork ugly with painting-over? 1961, V. S. Naipaul, A House for Mr Biswas, Vintage International, published 2001, Prologue:
5. (archaic, figuratively) Immoral, or corrupted or tainted in some manner; also, ostracized, shunned.
   • My whole Life is so leprous, it infects All my Repentance: I wou’d buy your Pardon Though at the highest Set, even with my Life: c. 1608–1611, Francis Beaumont, John Fletcher, “The Maid’s Tragedy”, in Comedies and Tragedies […], London: […] Humphrey Robinson, […], and for Humphrey Moseley […], published 1679, →OCLC, Act IV, scene i:
   • And ſpeckl'd Vanity / Will ſicken ſoon and die, / And leprous ſin will melt from earthly mould, […] 1629, John Milton, “On the Morning of Christs Nativity”, in Poems of Mr. John Milton, […], London: […] Ruth Raworth for Humphrey Mosely, […], published 1646, →OCLC, stanza XIV, page 7:
6. (historical) Of gold or other metals: contaminated with other substances; impure.
7. (archaic) Synonym of leprose (“covered with thin scurfy scales, scaly-looking”).
8. (obsolete) Causing leprosy or a disease resembling it.
   • Thy vncle came, with iuyce of Hebona, / In a viall, and through the porches of my eares / Did powre the leaprous diſtilment, whoſe effect / Hold ſuch an enmitie with blood of man, […] c. 1599–1602 (date written), William Shake-speare, The Tragicall Historie of Hamlet, Prince of Denmarke: […] (First Quarto), London: […] [Valentine Simmes] for N[icholas] L[ing] and Iohn Trundell, published 1603, →OCLC, [Act I, scene v]:

Forms

Deriveds

leprousness · nonleprous · leprously

Relateds

lepry · leprosery · leprous gold · leprosity · lepric · leprophobia · leprophilia · leprosarium · leprolin · leproma · leprose · lepromin · leprologist · lepromatous · leprophil · leprosy

Synonyms

lepromatous · lepered · lazarlike · lazar · lazarlike · mesel · lepromatoid · leprosied · leproid · leprotic · leproid · leprose · lepric · lepric · leprosed · lepromatic

Translations (29)

ar مَجْذُوم (infected with one of the diseases known as leprosy) · ar جُذَامِيّ (similar to leprosy or its symptoms) · xcl ուրուկ (infected with one of the diseases known as leprosy) · la leprosus (infected with one of the diseases known as leprosy) · gl gafo (infected with one of the diseases known as leprosy) · bg прока́жен (infected with one of the diseases known as leprosy) · la leprōticus (similar to leprosy or its symptoms) · pt leproso (infected with one of the diseases known as leprosy) · fi spitaalinen (infected with one of the diseases known as leprosy) · it lebbroso (infected with one of the diseases known as leprosy) · is holdsveikur (infected with one of the diseases known as leprosy) · ckb گول (infected with one of the diseases known as leprosy) · gl leproso (infected with one of the diseases known as leprosy) · da spedalsk (infected with one of the diseases known as leprosy) · got 𐌸𐍂𐌿𐍄𐍃𐍆𐌹𐌻𐌻𐍃 (infected with one of the diseases known as leprosy) · de aussätzig (infected with one of the diseases known as leprosy) · bg прока́жен (ostracized, shunned — see also ostracized) · cs leprozní (infected with one of the diseases known as leprosy) · de leprakrank (infected with one of the diseases known as leprosy) · hy բորոտ (infected with one of the diseases known as leprosy) · de lepros (infected with one of the diseases known as leprosy) · el λεπρός (infected with one of the diseases known as leprosy) · de leprös (infected with one of the diseases known as leprosy) · grc λεπρός (infected with one of the diseases known as leprosy) · fr lépreux (infected with one of the diseases known as leprosy) · ar أَبْرَص (infected with one of the diseases known as leprosy) · ota پیس (infected with one of the diseases known as leprosy) · ka კეთროვანი (infected with one of the diseases known as leprosy) · ang hrēof (infected with one of the diseases known as leprosy)