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
The only “travel advisory” was guidance from the report’s authors that physicians take into consideration whether their patients had come from central Florida, because Hansen’s disease might be endemic to the region.
From Slate ● Aug. 15, 2023
The magazine grew from a two-page mimeographed hospital newsletter to a well-respected Hansen's disease news venue read by people in over 130 countries around the world.
From Salon ● Aug. 9, 2023
With another conflict won, she is determined to triumph over her longest battle of all: overcoming Hansen’s disease.
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.
