leprosy

noun7

1. •
   An infectious disease caused by the bacterium Mycobacterium leprae, gradually producing nerve damage and patches of skin necrosis and historically handled by permanently quarantining its sufferers.

   • Then is it surely a leprosy — 1535
2. •
   A contagious disease causing similar effects in animals.
3. •
   (nonstandard, old-fashioned) Similar contagious skin diseases causing light patches of scaly skin, particularly psoriasis, syphilis, vitiligo, scabies, and (biblical) the various diseases considered "tzaraath" in the Old Testament.
4. •
   Ellipsis of murine leprosy or feline leprosy (“diseases caused in rodents and cats by Mycobacterium lepraemurium”).
5. •
   (figurative) Anything considered similarly permanent, harmful, and communicable, particularly when such a thing should be handled by avoidance or isolation of its victims.

   • Sin is a spiritual leprosy.
6. •
   (no longer used) Synonym of mange and glanders in horses.
7. •
   (no longer used, rare) Synonym of leprosarium: a place for the housing of lepers in isolation from the rest of society.