lazaretto
Noun: 1. A hospital for persons with infectious diseases, especially leprosy: A specialized medical facility for isolating and treating people with contagious illnesses, historically most associated with leprosy. 2. A small locker or storage space at the stern of a boat or between decks of a ship: A compartment on a ship, often used for storing supplies, tools, or personal belongings of the crew.
- As a hospital for infectious diseases:
- In the 19th century, the island housed a lazaretto for sailors arriving with contagious fevers.
- The old lazaretto stands as a somber reminder of past epidemics.
- As a ship's storage locker:
- The sailor retrieved a spare rope from the lazaretto.
- The ship's lazaretto was used to store the crew's personal effects.
- The term is often used in historical or literary contexts to evoke a sense of isolation and quarantine.
- In maritime contexts, it specifically refers to a designated storage area, not a living space.
- Lazaret (noun): A variant spelling with the same meanings.
- Lazaretto can also refer to a quarantine station for ships, which is a facility on land where vessels, their crew, and passengers are isolated to prevent the spread of disease.
- For the hospital meaning: Leper colony, pesthouse, sanatorium (historical context for contagious diseases), isolation hospital, quarantine station.
- For the ship's locker meaning: Locker, storage compartment, bin.
The two primary meanings of "lazaretto" are connected by the theme of separation or isolation. The medical meaning comes from the historical practice of isolating the sick, while the nautical meaning refers to a separate, confined storage space on a ship. The word originates from the Italian "lazzaretto" and the name of the biblical figure Lazarus, who was often associated with lepers.
- a small locker at the stern of a boat or between decks of a ship
- hospital for persons with infectious diseases (especially leprosy)