leprous

Meaning

1. Of or relating to one of the diseases known as leprosy.
2. Infected with one of the diseases known as leprosy.
3. Similar to leprosy or its symptoms.
4. Having the appearance of the skin of one infected with leprosy; flaking, peeling, scabby, scurfy.
5. (archaic, figuratively) Immoral, or corrupted or tainted in some manner; also, ostracized, shunned.
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.

Synonyms

leper

leprotic

scabby

tainted with leprosy

lepric

Translations

lépreux

lebbroso

leproso

λεπρός

leprös

λεπρώδης

leprakrank

cüzamlı

lépreuse

leprosus

melaats

leproso

cüzama ait

cüzam gibi

Pronounced as (IPA)

/ˈlɛpɹəs/

Etymology

Inherited from Middle English: leprous

Cognate with French: lépreux

In summary

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).