Definition of: lazaretto

(laz′ə·ret′ō) noun plural ·tos
1. A pest-house or pest ship; also, a hospital.
2. A quarantine building.
3. A storeroom near a vessel's stern. Also laz′a·ret′, laz′a·rette′, la·zar·house (lā′zər·hous′, laz′ər-). [<Ital. lazzaretto <dial. Ital. (Venetian) lazareto, nazareto <(Santa Madonna di) Nazaret, a Venetian church used as a plague hospital in the 15th c.; infl. in form by lazzaro a leper <Med. L lazarus. See LAZAR.]