syphilis Hear it!

syphilis definition

syphi·lis (sif′ə lis)

noun

an infectious venereal disease caused by a spirochete (Treponema pallidum) and usually transmitted by sexual intercourse or acquired congenitally: if untreated, it can ultimately lead to the degeneration of the heart, bones, nerve tissue, etc.

Etymology: ModL < Syphilis sive Morbus Gallicus, lit., Syphilis or the French disease, title of a poem (1530) by Girolamo Fracastoro: after the hero Syphilus, a shepherd

Related Forms:

Webster's New World College Dictionary Copyright © 2009 by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Cleveland, Ohio.
Used by arrangement with John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

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