Lazarettos

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A historical term for quarantine stations specifically focused on the isolation of individuals afflicted with infectious diseases
2. Referring to structures or locations where those with contagious illnesses are kept to prevent the spread of disease
3. Designating designated facilities used historically for managing outbreaks by isolating individuals and monitoring public health

Etymology: The plural "lazarettos" is the ordinary English plural of "lazaretto", so the real story is in the singular. Its ancestor is the Biblical beggar Lazarus, whose name became a generic word for a leper. In Medieval Latin, "lazarus" meant "leper", and Italian turned it into "lazzaro" with the diminutive or meliorative suffix "-etto" added, giving a place where the afflicted were kept. The name itself comes from Hebrew "'el'azár", meaning "God has helped". The most famous example is the Lazzaretto Vecchio, an island in the Venetian Lagoon. From 1403 to 1630 it housed a hospital for people infected with plague, and it also served as a leper colony. The Venetian name thus carried the leper's name directly into the place where sufferers were isolated, which is why English took the word for quarantine stations of this kind.