leper

C2+ Topic:People & Society

US /ˈlɛpɚ/ UK /ˈlɛpə/ See IPA manual

noun

Meanings

1

noun
a person with leprosy; a social outcast

After the scandal he was treated like a leper by his colleagues.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

1 noun · a person with leprosy; a... outcastpariahuntouchable

Word family

Related forms leprosy leprouslepromatous

Etymology

From Late Latin lepra ('leprosy'), from Ancient Greek lépra (λέπρα, 'scaly disease'), from lepís ('scale'), from lepein ('to peel'). Originally the disease name, later applied to the sufferer.

λέπρα Ancient Greek lepein Ancient Greek

View etymology graph ->

Topics

People & Society Word Formation & Derivatives

# leper

**Type:** Word
**Level:** C2+
**Part of speech:** noun
**IPA (US):** ˈlɛpɚ
**IPA (UK):** ˈlɛpə

## Meanings
1. a person with leprosy; a social outcast

## Examples
- After the scandal he was treated like a leper by his colleagues.

## Synonyms
- outcast
- pariah
- untouchable

## Related Forms
- leprosy
- leprous
- lepromatous

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: λέπρα
- Root: lepein

## Etymology
From Late Latin lepra ('leprosy'), from Ancient Greek lépra (λέπρα, 'scaly disease'), from lepís ('scale'), from lepein ('to peel'). Originally the disease name, later applied to the sufferer.

## AI Etymology
Leper comes from Late Latin lepra ('leprosy'), from Ancient Greek lépra (λέπρα, 'scaly disease'), from lepís ('scale'), from lepein ('to peel'). Originally the disease name, later applied to the sufferer. The etymological trail includes Ancient Greek λέπρα, Ancient Greek lepein. The same word family includes leprosy, leprous, lepromatous. Its current noun use means "a person with leprosy; a social outcast".

## Topics
- People & Society
- Word Formation & Derivatives

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leper

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