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.
People who seek treatment at the outpatient clinic, one of 16 federally supported Hansen’s disease clinics in the U.S., are often overwhelmed by dread, uncertainty and shame, Balquin said.
From The Wall Street Journal • Dec. 23, 2025
Barr was by then known for her superior laboratory skills, having worked on the bacterium that causes Hansen’s disease, commonly called leprosy, as well as other projects.
From New York Times • Mar. 21, 2024
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
Those days are over, thank goodness, but people diagnosed with Hansen’s disease still worry about how society will respond.
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
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.
