leprose

From New Latin leprōsus in botany especially as used by Linnaeus in his 1753 Species Plantarum and Late Latin leprōsus in medicine, from lepra (“psoriasis, leprosy”) + -ōsus, from Koine Greek λέπρᾱ (léprā, “psoriasis & similar skin diseases”), from Ancient Greek λεπρός (leprós, “scaly”), from either λεπίς (lepís, “scale”) or λέπος (lépos, “husk, scale”) + -ρος (-ros, “forming adjective”).

• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˈlɛproʊz/
• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈlɛprəʊz/, /ˈlɛprəʊs/

leprose (comparative more leprose, superlative most leprose)

1. (medicine) Synonym of leprous, afflicted with leprosy.
2. (botany) Synonym of scaly or lepidote, particularly describing lichens with a granular or powdery thallus.
   • 1818, Thomas Nuttall, Genera of North American Plants..., Vol. I, p. 208:

     A small section of the genus, including T. Usneoides of the United States, presents a filiform and diffusely dichotomous stem with alternate and filiform leprose leaves.

• “leprose, adj.”, in OED Online ⁠, Oxford, Oxfordshire: Oxford University Press, 2022.
• “lepra, n.”, in OED Online ⁠, Oxford, Oxfordshire: Oxford University Press, 2022.
• leprose in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913

• Lepores, elopers

leprose

1. feminine plural of leproso

• esporle, presole, spelerò

leprōse

1. vocative masculine singular of leprōsus