lazaretto








noun, plural laz·a·ret·tos.

  1. a hospital for those affected with contagious diseases, especially leprosy.
  2. a building or a ship set apart for quarantine purposes.
  3. Also called glory hole. Nautical. a small storeroom within the hull of a ship, especially one at the extreme stern.

noun plural -rettos, -rets or -rettes

  1. Also called: glory hole nautical a small locker at the stern of a boat or a storeroom between decks of a ship
  2. Also called: lazar house, pesthouse (formerly) a hospital for persons with infectious diseases, esp leprosy

n.“house for reception of lepers and diseased poor persons,” 1540s, from Italian lazareto “place set aside for performance of quarantine” (especially that of Venice, which received many ships from plague-infested districts in the East), from the Biblical proper name Lazarus. Meaning “building set apart for quarantine” is c.1600 in English. The word in Italian was perhaps influenced by the name of another hospital in Venice, that associated with the church of Santa Maria di Nazaret.

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