lasarett

Swedish

Etymology

From Italian lazzaretto, named after Santa Maria di Nazareth or Nazarethum, a maritime quarantine station on an island of the Ventian lagoon (modern name: Lazzaretto Vecchio), with influence of lazzaro (“leper”), 15th c. Cognate with English lazaretto.

Noun

lasarett n

1. A hospital.

   Synonym: sjukhus

   • 1954, Tage Aurell, Kathrine Aurell, Liten fransk stad, page 66:

     Och la framför mig ett tryckt formulär på vilket jag liksom genom en dimma läste, att undertecknad har vid besök å Albi lasarett vägrat undergå föreslagen insprutning mot ...

     Lay before me a printed form upon which, as if through a haze, I read that the undersigned, during a visit to Albi Hospital, declined to undergo the suggested injection for ...

   • 2023 October 31, Malvina Lindström, “Taklampa värd 100 000 stulen från lasarettet”, in SVT Nyheter:

     Lampan med ett värde av 100 000 kronor ska ha hängt i ett besöksrum på lasarettet i Växjö, enligt P4 Kronoberg, som var först med att rapportera om händelsen.

     The lamp with a value of 100,000 Swedish kronor is said to have hung in a visitor's room at the hospital in Växjö, according to P4 Kronoberg, which was the first to report on the incident.

2. (dated) A larger hospital.

   Coordinate term: sjukhus (“hospital”)

   • 1862, Mathilda Ahlbom, Såpbubblor III. »En löjtnant eller ingen!», page 27:

     Låt ingen doktare inbilla sig tokenskap, kusin; de ska’ ju lefva på sjukdomar, derföre ville väl de ha hela staden till ett lasarett.

     Let no doctar persuade himself of foolishness, cousin; they shall indeed live on ailments, thence they would like to have the whole town as a hospital.

Usage notes

• In contemporary Swedish both terms, lasarett and sjukhus, are used interchangeable. The choice of any particular term is, if anything, based on the name of the particular hospital itself. For example; Växjö Lasarett ("Växjö Hospital") is usually referred to as a lasarett, while Carlanderska Sjukhus ("Calanderska Hospital") is usually referred to as a sjukhus.
• The general nonspecific term in media tend to be sjukhus.
• In recent years, more and more hospitals have changed their official name from lasarett to sjukhus.

Declension

Declension of lasarett

		nominative	genitive
singular	indefinite	lasarett	lasaretts
	definite	lasarettet	lasarettets
plural	indefinite	lasarett	lasaretts
	definite	lasaretten	lasarettens

Derived terms

• lassis (colloquial, rare)

See also

• hospital (dated)
• spetal (obsolete)
• helgeandshus (obsolete)

References

• lasarett in Svensk ordbok (SO)
• lasarett in Svenska Akademiens ordlista (SAOL)
• lasarett in Svenska Akademiens ordbok (SAOB)

Anagrams

• altarets