lazaretto
Plural: lazaretti, lazarettoes, lazarettos
Noun
- hospital for persons with infectious diseases (especially leprosy)
- a small locker at the stern of a boat or between decks of a ship
- A place reserved for people with infectious diseases (especially leprosy or plague) to live on a long-term basis.
- A building such as a hospital, or occasionally a ship, used to temporarily isolate sick people to prevent the spread of infectious diseases; a quarantine.
- A place at the front of the tweendecks of a merchant ship where provisions are stored.
Origin / Etymology
Borrowed from Italian lazzareto (archaic), lazzaretto, lazzeretto, from lazzaro (“leper”) + -etto (diminutive or meliorative suffix). Lazzaro is derived from Medieval Latin lazarus (“leper”), from Lazarus, from Ancient Greek Λᾱ́ζᾱρος (Lā́zāros), from Hebrew אֶלְעָזָר ('el'azár, literally “God has helped”), from אֵל ('él, “God; a deity, god”) + עָזַר ('azár, “to assist, help”). Lazarus is a Biblical character mentioned in the parable of Jesus known as “The rich man and Lazarus” who is described as being a beggar covered in sores: see Luke 16:20–21. Doublet of lazar and lazaret.
The plural form lazaretti is borrowed from Italian lazzaretti, lazzeretti.
Scrabble Score: 18
lazaretto: valid Scrabble (US) TWL Wordlazaretto: valid Scrabble Word in Merriam-Webster MW Dictionary
lazaretto: valid Scrabble Word in International Collins CSW Dictionary