lepra

From Latin lepra (“psoriasis & similar skin diseases”), from Koine Greek λέπρα (lépra, “psoriasis & similar skin diseases”), from λεπρός (leprós, “scaly”), from either λεπίς (lepís, “scale”) or λέπος (lépos, “husk, scale”) + -ρος (-ros, suffix forming adjectives). The shift of sense from psoriasis to Hansen's disease occurred in large part from the use of λέπρα (lépra) to translate Hebrew צרעת (“tzaraath”) in the Septuagint and its subsequent use in the New Testament and Late Latin.

• IPA^(key): /ˈlɛprə/

lepra (uncountable)

1. (medicine, archaic) Synonym of leprosy.
   • 1914, Henry Weightman Stelwagon, Treatise on Diseases of the Skin, 7th edition, page 914:

     Lepra is an endemic, chronic, malignant, constitutional disease, due to a specific bacillus.

2. (medicine, obsolete) Synonym of psoriasis.
   • 1864, William Tilbury Fox, Skin Diseases, page 43:

     Lepra and psoriasis are identical, though the two names are retained.

3. (botany, rare, obsolete) Any layer of algae, lichens, or other substance producing a leprosylike appearance on the surfaces of plants.
   • 1805, translation of Karl Ludwig Willdenow as The Principles of Botany and of Vegetable Physiology, p. 344:

     Lepra is frequently met with on the trunks, especially of young trees.

• “lepra, n.”, in OED Online ⁠, Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2022.
• “lepra”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.

• APLer, Alper, Pearl, paler, parle, pearl, repla

Borrowed from Latin lepra.

• IPA^(key): (Central, Balearic) [ˈle.pɾə]
• IPA^(key): (Valencia) [ˈle.pɾa]

• Audio (Barcelona):

  (file)

lepra f (uncountable)

1. leprosy

   Synonym: llebrosia

• leprós

• “lepra”, in Diccionari de la llengua catalana [Dictionary of the Catalan Language] (in Catalan), second edition, Institute of Catalan Studies [Catalan: Institut d'Estudis Catalans], April 2007
• “lepra”, in Gran Diccionari de la Llengua Catalana, Grup Enciclopèdia Catalana, 2026
• “lepra” in Diccionari normatiu valencià, Acadèmia Valenciana de la Llengua.
• “lepra” in Diccionari català-valencià-balear, Antoni Maria Alcover and Francesc de Borja Moll, 1962.

• IPA^(key): /ˈlepra/

lepra f (plural lepre)

1. alternative form of levra

• “levra, leura, lepra, levura, lefra, levru” in INFCOR: Banca di dati di a lingua corsa

• IPA^(key): [ˈlɛpra]
• Rhymes: -pra
• Hyphenation: le‧p‧ra

lepra f

1. leprosy

• perla
• raple

• Audio:

  (file)

• Hyphenation: le‧pra

lepra m (uncountable, no diminutive)

1. leprosy

• melaatsheid

• → Indonesian: lepra
• → Caribbean Javanese: léprah

• parel

From Swedish lepra, ultimately from Koine Greek λέπρᾱ (léprā).

• IPA^(key): /ˈleprɑ/, [ˈle̞prɑ̝]
• Rhymes: -eprɑ
• Syllabification^(key): lep‧ra
• Hyphenation^(key): lep‧ra

lepra

1. (pathology) leprosy

• Hansenin tauti
• spitaali

• spitaalinen

• “lepra”, in Kielitoimiston sanakirja [Dictionary of Contemporary Finnish]‎^[1] (in Finnish) (online dictionary, continuously updated), Kotimaisten kielten keskuksen verkkojulkaisuja 35, Helsinki: Kotimaisten kielten tutkimuskeskus (Institute for the Languages of Finland), 2004–, retrieved 2 July 2023

From New Latin lepra, from Ancient Greek λέπρα (lépra, “leprosy”).

• IPA^(key): [ˈlɛprɒ]
• Hyphenation: lep‧ra
• Rhymes: -rɒ

lepra (comparative leprább, superlative legleprább)

1. (slang) stinking (very bad)

lepra (plural leprák)

1. leprosy (infectious disease caused by infection by Mycobacterium leprae)

• lepra in Géza Bárczi, László Országh, et al., editors, A magyar nyelv értelmező szótára [The Explanatory Dictionary of the Hungarian Language] (ÉrtSz.), Budapest: Akadémiai Kiadó, 1959–1962. Fifth ed., 1992: →ISBN.

From Dutch lepra, ultimately from Ancient Greek λέπρα (lépra, “leprosy”).

• IPA^(key): /lɛpra/
• Hyphenation: lep‧ra

lepra (plural lepra-lepra)

1. leprosy

   Synonyms: abras, kusta, taiko

• “lepra”, in Kamus Besar Bahasa Indonesia [Great Dictionary of the Indonesian Language] (in Indonesian), Jakarta: Agency for Language Development and Cultivation – Ministry of Education, Culture, Research, and Technology of the Republic of Indonesia, 2016

lepra f (plural lepre)

1. (archaic) alternative form of lebbra

• perla

From Koine Greek λέπρα (lépra, “psoriasis & similar skin diseases”).

• (Classical Latin) IPA^(key): [ˈɫɛ.pra]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): [ˈlɛː.pra]

lepra f (genitive leprae); first declension

1. psoriasis, similar skin disorders
2. (Late Latin) leprosy

This word is usually plural in Classical Latin, but primarily used in the singular in Late Latin.

First-declension noun.

• leprōsus

• “lepra”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “lepra”, in Gaffiot, Félix (1934), Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.

• IPA^(key): /ˈlɛ.pra/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɛpra
• Syllabification: le‧pra

lepra f

1. leprosy

• lepra in Wielki słownik języka polskiego, Instytut Języka Polskiego PAN
• lepra in Polish dictionaries at PWN

From Latin lepra (“leprosy”), from Ancient Greek λέπρα (lépra, “leprosy”), from λεπίς (lepís, “scale”), from λέπω (lépō, “to peel”).

• Rhymes: -ɛpɾɐ

lepra f (uncountable)

1. leprosy (infectious disease caused by infection by Mycobacterium leprae)

   Synonyms: mal de Hansen, morfeia, hanseniase

• “lepra”, in Dicionário Priberam da Língua Portuguesa (in Portuguese), Lisbon: Priberam, 2008–2026

Borrowed from Latin lepra, from Ancient Greek λέπρα (lépra), from λεπίς (lepís, “scale”).

• IPA^(key): /ˈlepɾa/ [ˈle.pɾa]
• Rhymes: -epɾa
• Syllabification: le‧pra

lepra f (uncountable)

1. leprosy

• “lepra”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.8.1, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 15 December 2025

Borrowed from Greek λέπρα (lépra), from Ancient Greek λέπρα (lépra, “leprosy”).

• IPA^(key): /lepˈɾa/

lepra (definite accusative leprayı, uncountable)

1. synonym of cüzzam (“leprosy”)

• “lepra”, in Turkish dictionaries, Türk Dil Kurumu
• Ayverdi, İlhan (2010), “lepra”, in Misalli Büyük Türkçe Sözlük, a reviewed and expanded single-volume edition, Istanbul: Kubbealtı Neşriyatı
• Çağbayır, Yaşar (2007), “lepra”, in Ötüken Türkçe Sözlük (in Turkish), volume 3, Istanbul: Ötüken Neşriyat, page 2956
• Nişanyan, Sevan (2002–), “lepra”, in Nişanyan Sözlük