syphilis
/ˈsɪfɪlɪs/ noun
Forms syph
Synonyms
cardboard box Cupid's disease French disease French gout French pox great-pox ladies' fever leprosy lues lues venerea pox syph
Etymology
From New Latin syphilis, originally the title of a poem, circa 1530, by Girolamo Fracastoro concerning “Syphilus”, a shepherd boy who insulted the Greek god Apollo and was punished by that god with a horrible disease. Syphilis in the Old World began circa 1495. More in Wikipedia at History of syphilis.
Webster’s 1913
- noun The pox, or venereal disease; a chronic, specific, infectious disease, usually communicated by sexual intercourse or by hereditary transmission, and occurring in three stages known as primary, secondary, and tertiary syphilis. See under Primary, Secondary, and Tertiary.Treponema pallidum. Usu. tretable with penicillin or other beta-lactam antibiotics.
Sources: Wiktionary · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “syphilis”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details