a public hospital for poor people having contagious diseases, esp. for lepers
a building or ship used as a quarantine station
a storage space below deck in the stern of a ship or boat
Origin:
It < Venetian lazareto, nazareto, after Venetian church of Santa Madonna di Nazaret, used as a plague hospital during the 15th c.; initial l- by assoc. with lazzaro, leper: see lazar