leprous, a.
(ˈlɛprəs)
Forms: 3–5 leprus, 3, 6–7 leperous, 4–5 leprows, -ros, -rys, 5 -rose, leperus, (? luprus), 5–6 leprouse, 6 leporous(e, lyporous(e, 7 leap(e)rous, 3– leprous.
[a. OF. lepros, leprous (mod.F. lépreux), ad. late L. leprōs-us, f. lepra leprosy.]
1. Afflicted or tainted with leprosy.
‘Simon leprous’ is a common ME. translation of Simon leprosus of the Vulgate (Matt. xxvi. 6, Mark xiv. 1) = ‘Simon the leper’ of the A.V.
| a 1225 Ancr. R. 148 Moiseses hond..bisemede oðe spitel⁓vuel, & þuhte leprus. c 1290 S. Eng. Leg. 464/79 A man of þat contreye þat heiȝhte symond leperous. 1382 Wyclif Lev. xiii. 46 Al tyme that he is leprows and vncleene. a 1400–50 Alexander 4593 As þa þat lepros ere & lame. 1483 Caxton Gold. Leg. 216 b/1 The hous of Symon leprous where as our lord dyned. 1535 Coverdale 2 Kings v. Contents, Gehasi Eliseus seruaunt is made leporous. 1535 Act 27 Hen. VIII, c. 25 All leprouse and pore beddred creatures. 1611 Bible Exod. iv. 6 And when hee tooke it out, behold, his hand was leprous as snowe. 1732 Berkeley Alciphr. vi. §24 Leprous Egyptians, driven from their country on account of that loathsome distemper. 1876 J. S. Bristowe Theory Pract. Med. (1878) 275 The children of leprous parents are more likely to become affected [with leprosy] than are the children of healthy parents. |
† b. Causing or inducing leprosy. Obs.
| 1542 Boorde Dyetary xvi. (1870) 271 Olde beefe..doth ingender melancolye and leporouse humoures. 1602 Shakes. Ham. i. v. 64 And in the Porches of mine eares [he] did poure The leaperous Distilment. |
c. Pertaining to, resembling, or accompanying, leprosy.
| 1635–56 Cowley Davideis ii. 619 Leprous scurf o're his whole body cast. 1774 Goldsm. Nat. Hist. (1776) II. 241 That the whiteness of the Negroe skin..might be called rather a leprous crust than a natural complexion. 1827–35 Willis Leper 125 The dull pulses..beat beneath the hot And leprous scales. 1875 Jowett Plato (ed. 2) III. 669 Generating leprous eruptions and similar diseases. 1898 P. Manson Trop. Diseases xxvi. 421 Nerve stretching..has been strongly advocated..for the cure of leprous neuralgia. |
d. fig.
| 1598 Dallington Meth. Trav. B j b, Who so bringeth home a leprous soule and a tainted body. 1629 Milton Nativity 138 And leprous sin will melt from earthly mould. 1632 Sanderson Serm. 493 The leaprous humour of Popery. 1697 Jos. Woodward Rel. Soc. Lond. x. (1704) 176 Heal my leperous soul. 1796 Coleridge Sonn., Thyself redeeming from that leprous stain Nobility. 1868 Farrar Silence & V. iii. (1875) 65 Her literature..a leprous fiction which poisoned every virtue. |
2. transf. Having a surface resembling the skin of a leper; covered with white scales. In Bot. = leprose.
| 1620 Markham Farew. Husb. xiii. 100 Myst and fog, which being naughty vapours, drawn from the infected parts of the earth, and falling vpon the corne, doe..make the graine leprous. 1820 Shelley Sensit. Plant iii. 70 Spawn, weeds, and filth, a leprous scum. 1830 Lindley Nat. Syst. Bot. 68 Its leprous leaves, superior fruit, and apetalous flowers, will at all times distinguish the Oleaster tribe. 1839 ― Introd. Bot. (ed. 3) 470 Leprous..; covered with minute peltate scales. 1840 Dickens Barn. Rudge xxxi, One old leprous screen of faded Indian leather. 1842 G. Turnbull in Proc. Berw. Nat. Club II. No 10. 8 Where lichens make the trunks all leprous. |
† b. Alchemy. Cf. leprosity. Obs.
| 1605 Timme Quersit. i. xiii. 58 The phylosophers haue the same [sc. lead] in great esteeme,..they cal it their sunne or leperous gold. 1660 tr. Paracelsus' Archidoxis i. iv. 38 The Quintessence of Gold is as to its Quantity, exceeding small; and the residue of it is a leprous body. |
† 3. absol. (quasi-n.) A leper. Obs.
| c 1250 Kent. Serm. in O.E. Misc. 31 Swo kam a leprus, a sik man. c 1325 Metr. Hom. 129 This forsaid leprous was made hale. c 1380 Wyclif Wks. (1880) 205 Þei ben..lemmans of foule sathanas þat is foulere þan ony mesel or leprous in þis world. 1464 Rolls of Parlt. V. 521/1 Certeyn Leprus of oure menialx Servauntez. |
Hence ˈleprously adv., ˈleprousness.
| 1471 Ripley Comp. Alch. vii. in Ashm. (1652) 170 Clensyng theyer Leprosenes. 1527 Andrew Brunswyke's Distyll. Waters B ij, The same water..preserveth the body from leprousnes. 1547 Boorde Brev. Health Pref. 6 b, Leprousnes and many other infectious sicknesses. 1607 Tourneur Rev. Trag. iv. iv, How leprously That Office would haue cling'd vnto your forehead. 1611 Cotgr., Lepreserie, leaprousnesse. 1883 Harper's Mag. Aug. 464/2 It shone leprously white and blue. |