lepers
Hansen's disease sufferers
Lepers is the plural of leper, a person afflicted with leprosy—a disfiguring bacterial disease that historically caused sufferers to be shunned and isolated.
The word now primarily appears in figurative use: a social leper is someone treated as an outcast, avoided by others: After the scandal, he became a leper in Washington circles.
The term is considered offensive when applied to people with the actual disease; "person with leprosy" is preferred.
Shunned, rejected person
- untouchableExempt from criticism or harm
- pariahRejected, shunned person
- exileBanishment from homeland
- isolationComplete separation from others
colony · segregation · quarantine · banishment · discrimination · marginalization · shunning · clapper
Bacterial infection affecting nerves
- Mycobacterium lepraeBacterium causing Hansen's disease
- infectionPathogen invasion causing illness
- contagiousTransmissible between people
- chronicPersisting over time
skin lesions · numbness · neuropathy · disfigurement · ulcers · bacteria · endemic · antibiotics
outcast
Shunned, rejected person
- untouchableExempt from criticism or harm
- pariahRejected, shunned person
- exileBanishment from homeland
isolation · colony · segregation · quarantine · banishment · discrimination · marginalization · shunning · clapper · social death
Hansen's disease
Bacterial infection affecting nerves
- Mycobacterium lepraeBacterium causing Hansen's disease
- infectionPathogen invasion causing illness
- contagiousTransmissible between people
chronic · skin lesions · numbness · neuropathy · disfigurement · ulcers · bacteria · endemic · antibiotics · immunity
Leviticus
Hebrew scripture of rituals
healing · Miriam · Lazarus · Samaritan · purification · cleansing · miracle · casting out · alms · beggar
- outcastsoutcast, pariah, pariahs, outcasts, outlaws
- Vulnerable Groupshomeless youth, orphans, refugees, disabled people, elderly poor
- povertypoverty line, poor, poverty rate, impoverished, generational poverty
- patientspatient, inpatients, inpatient, outpatients, outpatient
- aid recipientsfood stamp users, Medicare recipients, social security recipients, scholarship holders, charity cases
- Jesus' MinistryJesus, disciples, apostles, Peter, John
- leper colonyIsolated community for afflicted
- leper coloniesIsolated communities for diseased outcasts