Main Entry: la·zar

Pronunciation: \ˈlaz-ər, ˈlā-zər\

Function: noun

: leper

Laz·a·rus, \ˈlaz-(ə-)rəs\ Biblical character. Lazarus was a diseased beggar in a parable told by Jesus in the Gospel according to St. Luke. Apparently he was invented only for the purposes of the parable and has no historical basis. During the Middle Ages, however, he acquired the identity of an actual person, becoming in the process St. Lazarus, the patron saint of beggars and lepers.