🇯🇵Japanese Source WordCode: JA

ハンセン病

Pronunciation / Transliteration: hansen-byō

🇬🇧 Direct English Meaning:
Leprosy/ˈlɛp.rə.si/
nounCEFR C1 (Advanced)Top #4500 frequency
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🇯🇵 Example Sentence in Japanese:

"ハンセン病は適切な治療により治癒する疾患です。"

Comprehensive Definitions & Senses

2 senses
As noun
  1. 1

    A chronic, contagious infectious disease caused by the bacterium Mycobacterium leprae, affecting the skin, peripheral nerves, upper respiratory tract mucosa, and eyes.

    "Modern multidrug therapy has successfully cured millions of cases of leprosy worldwide."
  2. 2

    A historical or metaphorical term associated with severe social ostracism or stigma.

    "The whistleblower found himself treated like social leprosy within the corporate hierarchy."

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Antonyms & Contrasting Words (1)

Linguistic Origin & Historical Etymology

Derived from Middle English 'lepresie', stemming from Old French 'lepra', and ultimately from Late Latin 'lepra', based on the Greek 'lepra' meaning 'scaly', from 'lepos' (scale). The Japanese term 'hansen-byō' is formed from the name of the Norwegian physician Gerhard Armauer Hansen, who discovered the bacterium Mycobacterium leprae, combined with the suffix '-byō' meaning disease.

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