LEPROSY
leprosy, Hansen's disease
(noun) 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
Source: WordNet® 3.1
Etymology
Noun
leprosy (usually uncountable, plural leprosies)
An infectious disease caused by infection by Mycobacterium leprae.
In the Bible, a disease of the skin not conclusively identified, which can also affect clothes and houses.
Synonyms
• (infectious disease): Hansen's disease, mesel
Source: Wiktionary
Lep"ro*sy, n. Etym: [See Leprous.] (Med.)
Definition: A cutaneous disease which first appears as blebs or as reddish,
shining, slightly prominent spots, with spreading edges. These are
often followed by an eruption of dark or yellowish prominent nodules,
frequently producing great deformity. In one variety of the disease,
anæsthesia of the skin is a prominent symptom. In addition there may
be wasting of the muscles, falling out of the hair and nails, and
distortion of the hands and feet with destruction of the bones and
joints. It is incurable, and is probably contagious.Mycobacterium
leprae, curable in most cases by therapy with a combination of
antibiotics, but cases resistant to therapy are increasing.
Note: The disease now called leprosy, also designated as Lepra or
Lepra Arabum, and Elephantiasis Græcorum, is not the same as the
leprosy of the ancients. The latter was, indeed, a generic name for
many varieties of skin disease (including our modern leprosy,
psoriasis, etc.), some of which, among the Hebrews, rendered a person
ceremonially unclean. A variety of leprosy of the Hebrews (probably
identical with modern leprosy) was characterized by the presence of
smooth, shining, depressed white patches or scales, the hair on which
participated in the whiteness while the skin and adjacent flesh
became insensible. It was incurable disease.
Source: Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary 1913 Edition