lazaretto

noun

1. (historical)A place reserved for people with infectious diseases (especially leprosy or plague) to live on a long-term basis.

   “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.”

   “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.”

   “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.”

   “[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; […]”

2. (also, figuratively, historical)A building such as a hospital, or occasionally a ship, used to temporarily isolate sick people to prevent the spread of infectious diseases; a quarantine.

   “[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; […]”

   “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.”

   “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; […]”

   “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.”

3. (broadly)A place at the front of the tweendecks of a merchant ship where provisions are stored.

   “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.”