lazaretto
/ˌlæzəˈɹɛtəʊ/
"lazaretto" is a 9-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“lazaretto” is uncommon English (outside the top frequency list), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- Unranked
- below top-frequency English
- 9
- letters
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - A place reserved for people with infectious diseases (especially leprosy or plague) to live on a long-term basis.
Corpus desk
Index EN-lazaretto · lazaretto · English
lazaretto · unranked · 0 variants · 0 confusables
- FREQ-UNRANKED Unranked
- LEN-LONG 9 letters
- VOW-4 4 vowels
- CONFUS-0 No pairs
- VAR-0 0 variants
- BOOK-THIN "L" thin
- PHOTO-UNK Peer pending
Read with this headword: Spelling guide for this pattern
Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | lazaretto |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /ˌlæzəˈɹɛtəʊ/ |
| Letters | 9 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Long-tail rank of “lazaretto” in English
Rare enough to double-check
lazaretto is uncommon English outside the top frequency list, classed as anoun, transcribed /ˌlæzəˈɹɛtəʊ/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 3 senses are on record.
No generated misspelling entries exist for lazaretto in our index, and the word's spelling is regular enough that our generator found nothing worth flagging. This entry stands alone in our confusable dataset, suggesting its spelling stands apart enough that readers rarely confuse it with something else.
Etymologically, the entry records: Borrowed from Italian lazzareto (archaic), lazzaretto, lazzeretto, from lazzaro (“leper”) + -etto (diminutive or meliorative suffix). Lazzaro is derived from Medieval Latin lazarus (“leper”), from Lazarus, from Ancient Greek Λᾱ́ζᾱρος (Lā́zāros), from Hebrew… The correct English form is lazaretto, spelled L-A-Z-A-R-E-T-T-O.
Definition
- 1A place reserved for people with infectious diseases (especially leprosy or plague) to live on a long-term basis.
- 2A building such as a hospital, or occasionally a ship, used to temporarily isolate sick people to prevent the spread of infectious diseases; a quarantine.
- 3A place at the front of the tweendecks of a merchant ship where provisions are stored.
Recorded use
Wiktionary examplesThese source excerpts show how lazaretto appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
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.
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.
Etymology
Borrowed from Italian lazzareto (archaic), lazzaretto, lazzeretto, from lazzaro (“leper”) + -etto (diminutive or meliorative suffix). Lazzaro is derived from Medieval Latin lazarus (“leper”), from Lazarus, from Ancient Greek Λᾱ́ζᾱρος (Lā́zāros), from Hebrew אֶלְעָזָר ('el'azár, literally “God has helped”), from אֵל ('él, “God; a deity, god”) + עָזַר ('azár, “to assist, help”). Lazarus is a Biblical character mentioned in the parable of Jesus known as “The rich man and Lazarus” who is described as being a beggar covered in sores: see Luke 16:20–21. Doublet of lazar and lazaret. The plural form lazaretti is borrowed from Italian lazzaretti, lazzeretti.
This word in other languages
Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.