Hansen's disease
Americannoun
noun
Etymology
Origin of Hansen's disease
1935–40; named after G. H. Hansen (1841–1912), Norwegian physician and discoverer of leprosy-causing Mycobacterium leprae
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Leprosy, a bacterial infection also known as Hansen’s disease, has been curable by a combination of antibiotics since 1981, and the facility closed in 1999.
From The Wall Street Journal • Dec. 23, 2025
More than 8,000 people, mostly Native Hawaiians, perished at Kalaupapa, including Damien, who eventually contracted leprosy, later called Hansen’s disease.
From Seattle Times • Dec. 1, 2023
Fortunately, Hansen’s disease can be treated today with readily available antibiotics, which make victims no longer contagious within days.
From Slate • Aug. 15, 2023
Its weather-worn headstones were a reminder of how, in the not-too-distant past, Hansen's disease was a death sentence.
From Salon • Aug. 9, 2023
After nine years—in April 1957—Joey finally achieves twelve consecutive negative swabs for Hansen’s disease, and she is allowed to leave Carville.
From "At Last She Stood" by Erin Entrada Kelly
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
