lazaretto

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lazaretto

  • /ˌlæzəˈɹɛtəʊ/ UK
  • /ˌlæzəˈɹɛtoʊ/ US
  • [-ɾoʊ] US
  • /ˌlæzəˈɹɛti/ UK
  • /ˌlæzəˈɹɛti/ US
  • [-ɾi] US

Rhymes with -ɛtəʊ

Where it comes from

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.

noun lazarettos · lazarettoes · lazaretti · lazzaretto

  1. historical A place reserved for people with infectious diseases (especially leprosy or plague) to live on a long-term basis. For the plague, there is an houſe of many lodgeingꝭ [lodgeinges], two miles from Venice, called the Lazaretta, vnto the which all they of that houſe, wherin one hath been infected of the plague, are incontinẽtly ſent, and a lodgeyng ſufficiente appoincted for theim till the infection ceaſſe, that th

    Similar: lazaret, lazar house, pesthouse

  2. also, figuratively, historical 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. [H]ovv t'enquire, and be reſolu'd, / By preſent demonſtration, vvhether a ſhip, / Nevvly arriued from Soria, or from / Any ſuſpected part of all the leuant, / Be guilty of the plague: And, vvhere they vſe, / To lie out fortie, fifty daies, ſometimes, / About the Lazaretto, for their triall; […]

    Similar: lazaret

  3. broadly A place at the front of the tweendecks of a merchant ship where provisions are stored. After a large quantity of proviſions had been hoiſted up to get out the powder, the ſmoke was ſtill found to aſcend from below; this circumſtance, […] convinced them that the fire muſt be in the lazaretto below, where ſome purſers beds were now recollected to have been very improperly ſtowed; […] no

    Similar: lazaret

Translations

Every language

noun place reserved for people with infectious diseases (especially leprosy or plague) to live on a long-term basis

Españollazareto
Portuguêslazareto
Françaislazaret
Italianolazzaretto, lazzeretto
Ελληνικάλαζαρέτο lazaréto
Românălazaret
Русскийлазаре́т lazarét

noun building or ship used to temporarily isolate sick people to prevent the spread of infectious diseases

Españollazareto, malatería
Portuguêslazareto
Françaislazaret
DeutschLazarett
Italianolazzaretto, lazzeretto
Ελληνικάλαζαρέτο lazaréto
Românălazaret
Русскийлазаре́т lazarét

noun place at the front of the tweendecks of a merchant ship where provisions are stored

Italianointerponte

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MLA

"lazaretto." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/lazaretto. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026.

APA

lazaretto. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/lazaretto

Chicago

"lazaretto." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/lazaretto.

BibTeX
@misc{lazaretto_2026,
  title = {lazaretto},
  howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://micwyn.com/word/lazaretto},
  urldate = {2026-11-06}
}