lepra

The story

1. Hebrew · derived fromצרעת“tzaraath”
2. Koine Greek · derived fromλέπρα“psoriasis & similar skin diseases”
3. Latin · borrowed fromlepra“psoriasis & similar skin diseases”
4. English todaylepra

From Latin lepra (“psoriasis & similar skin diseases”), from Koine Greek λέπρα (lépra, “psoriasis & similar skin diseases”), from λεπρός (leprós, “scaly”), from either λεπίς (lepís, “scale”) or λέπος (lépos, “husk, scale”) + -ρος (-ros, suffix forming adjectives). The shift of sense from psoriasis to Hansen's disease occurred in large part from the use of λέπρα (lépra) to translate Hebrew צרעת (“tzaraath”) in the Septuagint and its subsequent use in the New Testament and Late Latin.

Words from the same roots