leprosery

• leprosary, leproserie

From French léproserie and léprosarie, from Medieval Latin leprōsārium, from leprōsus (“leprous”) + -ārium (“-ary: building related to”). Equivalent to leprose +‎ -ery.

leprosery (plural leproseries)

1. A building used to house lepers, usually in permanent quarantine from the rest of society.
   • 1818 Aug., Friend of India, p. 92:

     Lewis VIII, king of France, made bequests in the year 1227 to two thousand Leprosaries within his own dominions.

   • 1961, Graham Greene, Burnt-out Case, page 13:

     There was a rule that the leproserie should take contagious cases only.

• lazar house, leper house

• leprosarium, hospital

• “leprosery, n.”, in OED Online  ⁠, Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2022.