English

Proper noun

Lazarus

1. (bible) A man, the brother of Mary and Martha, who according to the New Testament Gospel of John was brought back to life by Jesus after being entombed for four days.
2. (bible) A beggar mentioned in a parable told by Jesus Christ as related in the New Testament Gospel of Luke.
3. (rare) A male given name.

Synonyms

• (New Testament character raised from the dead): Lazarus of Bethany

Related terms

• Eleazar

Derived terms

• Lazarus species
• Lazarus taxon

Translations

Noun

Lazarus ‎(plural Lazaruses)

1. A person who was dead and has been resurrected; a dead person who could potentially be resurrected; perhaps used metaphorically or hypothetically.
   • 1855, The New Monthly Magazine, Volume 105, page 302,

     This was the classic age of all the various exhumations, restorations, and resurrections; it was a retrospective time — a time of ghosts and Lazaruses, more or less decomposed.

   • 1870, Edmond de Pressensé, Annie Harwood Holmden (translator), The Early Years of the Christian Church, Book 3: First Century, page 462,

     Those who hear the voice of the Son of man and live, are so many Lazaruses called to the life divine.

   • 2010, Ippolito Desideri, Michael J Sweet (translator), Mission to Tibet: The Extraordinary Eighteenth-Century Account of Father Ippolito Desideri, page 598,

     Finally, in whatever state or condition of life the faithful may find themselves, even if they cannot, like the apostles, assist the Lazaruses to rise from their tombs […] .

2. A poor person, a beggar.
   • 1706, George Fox, Gospel Truth Demonstrated, in a Collection of Doctrinal Books, Volume 2, 1831, page 273,

     And do you not think, that all these poor Lazaruses, that you have persecuted, and do persecute, that when they die, they will not be carried into Abraham's bosom?

   • 2002, Stephen W. Plunkett, This We Believe: Eight Truths Presbyterians Affirm, page 109,

     These are the Lazaruses who lie prostrate at the gates of our cities and neighborhoods, and these are the needs that affluent Americans have conditioned themselves not to see because reaching out in any significant way would be far too costly.

   • 2008, Charles McCollough, The Art of Parables, page 126,

     Do we respond to the poor Lazaruses in our midst with charity (scraps from our table), or do we seek to change the economic conditions that set up these extremes of rich and poor?

Synonyms

• (poor person): see Wikisaurus:pauper
• (beggar): see Wikisaurus:beggar

Verb

Lazarus ‎(third-person singular simple present Lazaruses, present participle Lazarusing, simple past and past participle Lazarused)

1. (African American Vernacular) To rescue a dying person.
2. (African American Vernacular) To raise from the dead.

Danish

Proper noun

Lazarus

1. Lazarus

German

Proper noun

Lazarus

1. Lazarus

Old Saxon

Proper noun

Lazarus

1. Lazarus

Declension

Dutch

Adjective

lazarus ‎(invariable, comparative meer lazarus, superlative meest lazarus)

1. very drunk, wasted