lazaretto

plural lazarettos · plural lazarettoes · plural lazaretti · alternative lazzaretto

1. historicalA place reserved for people with infectious diseases (especially leprosy or plague) to live on a long-term basis.First known use mid 16th c.

   Miss Rossignol lived in the lazaretto / For Roman Catholic crones; she had white skin, / And underneath it, fine, old-fashioned bones; […]

   1962, Derek Walcott, “Tales of the Islands: Chapter III: La belle qui fut …”, in Wayne Brown, compiler, Selected Poetry (Caribbean Writers Series), Oxford, Oxfordshire: Heinemann Educational Publishers, published 1993, →ISBN, page 6

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   For the plague, there is an houſe of many lodgeingꝭ [lodgeinges], two miles from Venice, called the Lazaretta, vnto the which all they of that houſe, wherin one hath been infected of the plague, are incontinẽtly ſent, and a lodgeyng ſufficiente appoincted for theim till the infection ceaſſe, that they may retourne.

   1561, Wylliam Thomas [i.e., William Thomas], “[The Venetian Astate.] Of Common Prouision and Charitable Deedes.”, in The Historye of Italye. […], London: […] Thomas Parishe, →OCLC, folio 83, recto

   They are in their Method of Devotion, pious and charitable, their ſtately Temples, and Monaſteries demonſtrat the one, and their Lazarettos, or Houſes for the Poor do verify the other, ſpecially that of Monte de pietà, an Hoſpital of 60000.

   1654, James Howell, “To the Reader”, in Scipio Mazzella, James Howell, translated by Samson Lennard, Parthenopoeia, or The History of the Most Noble and Renowned Kingdom of Naples, […], London: […] Humphrey Moseley, […], →OCLC

   The Lazaretto is a vaſt Building, carrying in compaſs a thouſand and eight hundred yards. It ſtands near the Tovvn VValls, yet out of the Tovvn, and is to receive into it thoſe that are ſick of the Plague.

   1697, Richard Lassels, “Italy Described, in a Voyage thither”, in An Italian Voyage, or, A Compleat Journey through Italy. […], 2nd edition, London: […] Richard Wellington, […], and B[arnaby] Barnard Lintott, […], →OCLC, part I, page 83

   It is planted with ſhady trees; and in the center is a building, vvhich ſerves for a hoſpital, or lazaretto, for perſons afflicted vvith the leproſy, or other incurable diſeaſes, vvho are ſent thither from Batavia.

   1798, John Splinter Stavorinus, chapter VI, in Samuel Hull Wilcocke, transl., Voyages to the East-Indies; […], volume I, London: […] G. G. and J. Robinson, […], →OCLC, page 383

   [T]he dreary expanse of whitewashed walls, that at so small a cost might have been embellished by plaster-of-Paris friezes and large medallions, illustrating to the eye of the youthful student the most memorable glorifications of literature—these were bare as the walls of a poor-house or a lazaretto; […]

   1856, Thomas De Quincey, “Confessions of an English Opium-Eater”, in Confessions of an English Opium-Eater. […] (Selections Grave and Gay; De Quincey’s Works; V), revised edition, London: James Hogg & Sons, →OCLC, page 31

   Synonyms: lazaret, lazar house, pesthouse

2. alsofigurativelyhistoricalA building such as a hospital, or occasionally a ship, used to temporarily isolate sick people to prevent the spread of infectious diseases; a quarantine.First known use early 17th c.

   [H]ovv t'enquire, and be reſolu'd, / By preſent demonſtration, vvhether a ſhip, / Nevvly arriued from Soria, or from / Any ſuſpected part of all the leuant, / Be guilty of the plague: And, vvhere they vſe, / To lie out fortie, fifty daies, ſometimes, / About the Lazaretto, for their triall; […]

   1605 (first performance), Beniamin Ionson [i.e., Ben Jonson], “Volpone, or The Foxe. A Comœdie. […]”, in The Workes of Beniamin Ionson (First Folio), London: […] Will[iam] Stansby, published 1616, →OCLC, Act IIII, scene i, page 496

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   It is here a cuſtome ſtrictly obſerued (as alſo elſevvhere vvithin the Streights belonging to the Chriſtians) not to ſuffer any to trafficke or come aſhore before they haue a Pratticke from the Signoirs of Health: vvhich vvill not be granted vntill forty dayes after their arriuall, […] Notvvithſtanding, they vpon requeſt vvill carry you to the Lazaretto (vvhich is in the nature of a Peſt-houſe) there to abide vntill the date be expired. But if any fall ſicke amongſt them in the meane ſeaſon, their Pratticke is accordingly prolonged. A great inconuenience to the Merchants, but at Venice intollerable: vvhere vvhen they haue Pratticke, they are enforced to vnlade at the Lazaretto.

   1615, George Sandys, “The First Booke”, in The Relation of a Iourney Begun An: Dom: 1610. […], London: […] [Richard Field] for W. Barrett, →OCLC, pages 5–6

   If Lazarettoes were made here in England, that is, if Places were ſet apart and appointed for the Reception of infected Perſons and Goods, or of Perſons and Goods coming from infected Places; […] ſince Perſons and Goods in a Lazaretto muſt be as liable as otherwiſe to receive Infection; it follows, that whenever they are diſmiſs'd, tho they have got rid of their own, yet they muſt in all probability have received, and bring with them, ſome part of the new come Infection.

   1721, George Pye, “Sect. V. That Quarantines are Not Sufficient for the Purposes Intended.”, in A Discourse of the Plague; […], London: […] J[ohn] Darby, and sold by J[ames] Roberts […], and A[nne] Dodd […], →OCLC, page 45

   Theſe eſtabliſhments of Lazzarettos, under wiſe regulations, would have more than one good effect; for while they remove the great inquietude, which is occaſioned by our continual apprehenſions of the Plague, and ſave a populous kingdom, as well as other ſtates connected with us, (who are likewiſe endangered by the accidents of navigation and the imprudence of plunderers) they will ſecure the property of the trader from invaſion; […]

   1768, [Joseph Cawthorne], The Immediate Necessity of Building a Lazzaretto for a Regular Quarantine, after the Italian Manner, to Avoid the Plague, and to Preserve Private Property from the Plunderers of Wrecks upon the British Coast: […], London: […] J. Murdoch, […], →OCLC, pages 9–10

   Passengers may perform quarantine on board if they choose, but it is not advisable to do so if they arrive by a merchant ship, as in that case the term is longer than for a person who goes into the lazzaretto; the day he enters the lazzaretto is reckoned as one, and pratique is given at the earliest hour of the day when the period expires. […] The best lazzarettos are those of Malta, Leghorn, Marseilles, Ancona, and Trieste.

   1840, “Introduction”, in A Hand-book for Travellers in the Ionian Islands, Greece, Turkey, Asia Minor, and Constantinople; […], London: John Murray, […], →OCLC, section k (Quarantine), page x

   It was the time of the plague at Messina. The English fleet had anchored there, and searched the felucca I was on. That subjected us to a quarantine of twenty-one days upon arriving at Genoa after a long and troublesome crossing. They gave the passengers the choice of undergoing it on board, or in the lazaretto in which they warned us that we would find only the four walls, because they had not yet had time to furnish it.

   1995, Jean-Jacques Rousseau, “Book VII”, in Christopher Kelly, transl., edited by Christopher Kelly, Roger D[avis] Masters, and Peter G[ordon] Stillman, The Confessions and Correspondence, including the Letters to Malesherbes (The Collected Writings of Rousseau; 5), Hanover, N.H.: University Press of New England for Dartmouth College, published 1998, →ISBN, 2nd part, page 248

   Synonyms: lazaret

3. broadlynauticalA place at the front of the tweendecks of a merchant ship where provisions are stored.First known use early 18th c.

   1 more example

   After a large quantity of proviſions had been hoiſted up to get out the powder, the ſmoke was ſtill found to aſcend from below; this circumſtance, […] convinced them that the fire muſt be in the lazaretto below, where ſome purſers beds were now recollected to have been very improperly ſtowed; […] no doubt was entertained that theſe beds had got wet and had taken fire.

   1798, George Vancouver, chapter IV, in John Vancouver, editor, A Voyage of Discovery to the North Pacific Ocean, and Round the World; […], volume II, London: […] G. G. and J. Robinson, […]; and J. Edwards, […], →OCLC, page 86

   Synonyms: lazaret