lazar-house
Definition
- Noun:
- A hospital for people with leprosy: "lazar-house" refers to a building or institution used to isolate and care for individuals suffering from leprosy (also known as Hansen's disease), especially in historical contexts.
Usage Examples
- Noun:
- In medieval Europe, a lazar-house was often built outside city walls to prevent the spread of the disease. (A hospital for lepers.)
- The old lazar-house has been converted into a museum about the history of medicine. (A former leper colony.)
Advanced Usage
- Historical context: The term is largely archaic and appears in historical texts, literature, or discussions of public health in past centuries. It is rarely used in modern medical or everyday language.
- The chronicles mention a lazar-house established by the monks to tend to the afflicted. (A reference to a leper hospital in a historical account.)
Variants and Related Words
- Lazar (n): a person afflicted with leprosy; a leper. (Archaic.)
- The lazar begged for alms at the gate. (A leper asking for charity.)
- Lazaretto (n): a quarantine station for travelers or ships; sometimes used interchangeably with "lazar-house" for leper hospitals.
- Ships arriving from infected ports were required to stop at the lazaretto for inspection. (A quarantine facility.)
Synonyms
- Leper hospital: a facility for treating leprosy patients.
- Leper colony: a community or settlement for people with leprosy.
- Leprosarium: a medical term for a hospital specifically for leprosy.
Related Idioms
- (No common idioms exist for "lazar-house" as it is a specialized, historical term.)