Phrase guide

Hansen's disease

noun · 2 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

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No pronunciation record was provided for this word.

1

noun

Meaning 1

The disease leprosy, caused by infection by Mycobacterium leprae.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: uncountable

Topics: medicine, pathology, sciences

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

2

noun

Meaning 2

chronic granulomatous communicable disease occurring in tropical and subtropical regions; characterized by inflamed nodules beneath the skin and wasting of body parts; caused by the bacillus Mycobacterium leprae

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: leprosy

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: infectious disease

Narrower terms: tuberculoid leprosy, lepromatous leprosy

History

Etymology

Named after Norwegian physician Gerhard Armauer Hansen (1841–1912), who in 1873 discovered the bacterium causing the disease.

Across languages

Translations

8 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Bulgarian: болест на Хансен (bolest na Hansen) — Hansen's disease (only translations that use the name Hansen somehow) — see also leprosy
  • Chinese Mandarin: 漢生病 /汉生病 (Hànshēngbìng) — Hansen's disease (only translations that use the name Hansen somehow) — see also leprosy
  • French: maladie de Hansen — Hansen's disease (only translations that use the name Hansen somehow) — see also leprosy
  • Greek: νόσος του Χάνσεν (nósos tou Chánsen) — Hansen's disease (only translations that use the name Hansen somehow) — see also leprosy
  • Japanese: ハンセン病 (hansenbyō) — Hansen's disease (only translations that use the name Hansen somehow) — see also leprosy
  • Korean: 한센병 (hansenbyeong) — Hansen's disease (only translations that use the name Hansen somehow) — see also leprosy
  • Portuguese: hanseníase — Hansen's disease (only translations that use the name Hansen somehow) — see also leprosy
  • Ukrainian: хвороба Гансена (xvoroba Hansena) — Hansen's disease (only translations that use the name Hansen somehow) — see also leprosy