leprous
/ˈlɛpɹəs/ adjective
- adjective Of or relating to one of the diseases known as leprosy.
- adjective Infected with one of the diseases known as leprosy.
- adjective Similar to leprosy or its symptoms.
- adjective Having the appearance of the skin of one infected with leprosy; flaking, peeling, scabby, scurfy.
- adjective (figuratively, archaic) Immoral, or corrupted or tainted in some manner; also, ostracized, shunned.
- adjective (alchemy, historical) Of gold or other metals: contaminated with other substances; impure.
- adjective (botany, archaic) Synonym of leprose (“covered with thin scurfy scales, scaly-looking”).
- adjective (obsolete) Causing leprosy or a disease resembling it.
Synonyms
lepric leproid lazar lazarlike leprosed leprosied leprose lepered leprotic lepromatic lepromatous lepromatoid mesel
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).
Webster’s 1913
- adjective Infected with leprosy; pertaining to or resembling leprosy. "His hand was leprous as snow." Ex. iv. 6.
- adjective Leprose.
Etymology [OF. leprous, lepros, F. lépreux, fr. L. leprosus, fr. lepra, leprae, leprosy. See Leper.]
Sources: Wiktionary · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “leprous”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details