melaatsheid

Dutch

Alternative forms

• melaatschheid (obsolete)

Etymology

From Middle Dutch malaetscheit. Equivalent to melaats (“leprose”) +‎ -heid (“-ity, -ness”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /məˈlaːts.ɦɛi̯t/, /meː-/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Hyphenation: me‧laats‧heid

Noun

melaatsheid f (plural melaatsheden, no diminutive)

1. (pathology) skin disease; either leprosy (the infectious skin-disease caused by the bacteria Mycobacterium leprae) or (historical) another disease historically conflated with leprosy

Synonyms

• lepra (some contexts)