Lazzarettos

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A type of quarantine station used for isolating individuals exposed to contagious diseases
2. Facilities designated for the temporary confinement of sick individuals to prevent the spread of disease
3. Historical locations where those suspected of harboring infectious illnesses were held during outbreaks to ensure public health safety

Etymology: "Lazzarettos" is simply the plural of "lazzaretto," so the story belongs to the singular. The word was borrowed into English from Italian, where "lazzaretto" denoted a quarantine hospital, a place where people and goods suspected of carrying plague were held apart from the community. Its Italian origin is firmly established, and the English term came to describe the same kind of isolation facility. The most striking part of its history is the name's probable link to Lazarus, the beggar in the parable who was covered in sores, which may have given rise to the word through a figure of speech for the diseased. Treat that connection as uncertain, since the exact route from the biblical name to the Italian term is debated. What is clear is that the word belongs to the early modern vocabulary of plague control in Italian port cities, which is why the English equivalent arrived with a distinctly Mediterranean flavour.