Lazarus
US/ˈlæzəɹəs/
Lazarus proper noun: lazarus of Bethany, a man raised from the dead by Jesus Christ and later in Christianity revered as a saint.
Proper noun
Lazarus
- Lazarus of Bethany, a man raised from the dead by Jesus Christ and later in Christianity revered as a saint.
- I’ve always been moved by the story of Lazarus as it is recounted in the Gospel of John. The basic shape of the narrative is recognizable and relatable: Someone dies, and the heartbroken family pleads for their loss to be reversed. In the case of Lazarus, Christ is so moved by the family’s grief...2020 September 23, Teju Cole, “In Dark Times, I Sought Out the Turmoil of Caravaggio’s Paintings”, in The New York Times, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 23 Sep 2020
- Synonyms:
- Lazarus of Bethany, Saint Lazare, Saint Lazarus
- A beggar in a parable by Jesus Christ, traditionally (Christianity) thought to have been a leper and often conflated with Lazarus of Bethany.
- A male given name from Hebrew.
- A surname from Hebrew.
- Ken Cuccinelli tweaked the famous poem from Emma Lazarus – whose words, “Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free” are long associated with immigration to the US and the nation’s history as a haven – as part of a case for strict new measures pushed Monday by the...2019 August 13, Devan Cole and Caroline Kelly, “Cuccinelli rewrites Statue of Liberty poem to make case for limiting immigration”, in CNN
Noun
Lazarus (plural Lazaruses)
- A person who was deceased and has been resurrected; a deceased person who could potentially be resurrected.
- 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.1855, The New Monthly Magazine, volume 105, page 302
- Those who hear the voice of the Son of man and live, are so many Lazaruses called to the life divine.1870, Edmond de Pressensé, Annie Harwood Holmden (translator), The Early Years of the Christian Church, Book 3: First Century, page 462
- A poor person, a beggar.
- 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?1706, George Fox, Gospel Truth Demonstrated, in a Collection of Doctrinal Books, volume 2, published 1831, page 273
- 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.2002, Stephen W. Plunkett, This We Believe: Eight Truths Presbyterians Affirm, page 109
Verb
Lazarus (third-person singular simple present Lazaruses, present participle Lazarusing, simple past and past participle Lazarused)
- To rescue a dying person.
- To raise from the dead.
Lazarus meaning in Hindi, Arabic and Vietnamese
Lazarus in Hindi
- New Testament characters
- लाज़र lāzar
Lazarus in Arabic
- New Testament characters
- لَعَازَر laʕāzar
Lazarus in Vietnamese
- New Testament characters
- La-xa-rơ, La-da-rô
Examples of Lazarus in a sentence
- I’ve always been moved by the story of Lazarus as it is recounted in the Gospel of John.2020 September 23, Teju Cole, “In Dark Times, I Sought Out the Turmoil of Caravaggio’s Paintings”, in The New York Times, →ISSN, →OCLC...
- 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[…].2010, Ippolito Desideri, translated by Michael J Sweet, Mission to Tibet: The Extraordinary Eighteenth-Century Account of Father Ippolito...
- 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?2008, Charles McCollough, The Art of Parables, page 126:
Synonyms of Lazarus
Forms of Lazarus
| Noun | |
|---|---|
| plural | Lazaruses |
| Verb | |
| third-person singular present | Lazaruses |
| present participle | Lazarusing |
| past participle | Lazarused |
| past | Lazarused |
Origin of Lazarus
From Late Latin Lazarus, from Koine Greek Λᾱ́ζᾱρος (Lā́zāros), the given name of Biblical figures mentioned in Luke 16 and John 12, from Biblical Hebrew אֶלְעָזָר ('El'azár), a given name shared by various people in the Hebrew Bible and literally meaning "God has helped". Doublet of Eleazar.
Words formed from Lazarus
Phrases with Lazarus
Questions about Lazarus
- What does Lazarus mean?
- Lazarus means lazarus of Bethany, a man raised from the dead by Jesus Christ and later in Christianity revered as a saint.
- What is Lazarus in Hindi?
- Lazarus in Hindi is लाज़र (lāzar). See Lazarus meaning in Hindi.
- How do you use Lazarus in a sentence?
- I’ve always been moved by the story of Lazarus as it is recounted in the Gospel of John.
- What part of speech is Lazarus?
- Lazarus can be a proper noun, a noun or a verb.
- How do you pronounce Lazarus?
- Lazarus is pronounced /ˈlæzəɹəs/ (US).
Words near Lazarus in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: Lazarus (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
Last updated:
Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-Lazarus.wav.
Cite this entry: “Lazarus.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/lazarus. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.