Meanings
comparative more leprose · superlative most leprose
- biologySynonym of scaly or lepidote, particularly describing lichens with a granular or powdery thallus.
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.
1818, Thomas Nuttall, Genera of North American Plants..., volume I, page 208Synonyms: scaly or lepidote, particularly describing lichens with a granular or powdery thallus
Synonyms & antonyms
adjectiveSynonym of leprous, afflicted with leprosy.
adjectiveSynonym of scaly or lepidote, particularly describing lichens with a granular or powdery thallus.
More synonyms by meaning
adjectiverough to the touch; covered with scales or scurf
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- Ancient Greekλέπω (lépō)
- Ancient Greekλεπίς (lepís)
- Koine Greekλέπρα (lépra)
- Latinlepra
- Proto-Indo-European*h₃ed-
- Proto-Indo-European*h₃édosder.?
- New Latinleprōsu
- Englishleprose
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 (“-ous, -having”), 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 adjectives”). By surface analysis, leprosy + -ose.
More words from New Latin, Late Latin, Koine Greek
Full word history & related roots →Rhymes & wordplay
Anagrams
Cite this entry
leprose. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/leprose
“leprose.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/leprose. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “leprose,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/leprose.
Source: leprose on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.