Library / English Dictionary

LEPROSY

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

 I. (noun) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

Chronic granulomatous communicable disease occurring in tropical and subtropical regions; characterized by inflamed nodules beneath the skin and wasting of body parts; caused by the bacillus Mycobacterium leprae

Synonyms:

Hansen's disease; leprosy

Classified under:

Nouns denoting stable states of affairs

Hypernyms ("leprosy" is a kind of...):

infectious disease (a disease transmitted only by a specific kind of contact)

Meronyms (parts of "leprosy"):

ENL; erythema nodosum leprosum (an inflammatory complication of leprosy that results in painful skin lesions on the arms and legs and face)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "leprosy"):

tuberculoid leprosy (leprosy characterized by tumors in the skin and cutaneous nerves)

lepromatous leprosy (a very serious form of leprosy characterized by lesions that spread over much of the body and affecting many systems of the body)

Derivation:

leprous (relating to or resembling or having leprosy)

Credits

 Context examples: 

A long-acting prodrug of dapsone, used in the treatment of leprosy.

(Acediasulfone, NCI Thesaurus)

Another one causes leprosy.

(Mycobacterial Infections, NIH)

Leprosy is far more terrible than you can imagine it.

(Martin Eden, by Jack London)