leper

[ lep-er ]

noun

1. a person who has leprosy.
2. a person who has been rejected or ostracized for unacceptable behavior, opinions, character, or the like; anathema; outcast.

leper

/ ˈlɛpə /

noun

1. a person who has leprosy
2. derogatory.
   a person who is ignored or despised

Usage

Rather than talking about a leper or lepers , it is better to talk about a person with leprosy and people with leprosy

Word History and Origins

Origin of leper¹

First recorded in 1350–1400; Middle English lepre “leprosy,” from Latin lepra, from Greek lépra, noun use of feminine of leprós “scaly,” akin to lépos “scale,” lépein “to peel”

Word History and Origins

Origin of leper¹

C14: via Late Latin from Greek lepra, noun use of lepros scaly, from lepein to peel

Example Sentences

Specifically, the court ruled that a person could not be criminally punished for being a narcotics addict, which would be like making it a crime “to be mentally ill, or a leper, or to be afflicted with a venereal disease.”

From Los Angeles Times

We flew from New York City to New Orleans on November 28, 2016, my father, my mother, my husband, my two little girls and I. Our rental car followed the path of the Mississippi northward, snaking past suburbs and swamps, tin-roofed shacks and dirt roads until we reached the Gillis W. Long Hansen's Disease Center, formerly known as the Louisiana Leper Home, in Carville where my dad had once been a patient.

From Salon

“It’s not safe. Especially with all these strangers in town. They’d send me to the leper hospital in Louisiana. Nobody ever comes back from that place.”

From Literature

I sat in the balcony, half hoping that the leper man would be there.

From Literature

This time when I went to the balcony, the leper was there.

From Literature