Syphilis definition
Syphilis is a bacterial venereal disease usually contracted during sexual intercourse.
A sexually transmitted disease that causes an ulcer on the genitals is an example of syphilis.
noun
An infectious disease caused by a spirochete (Treponema pallidum), usually transmitted sexually or in utero, marked initially by local formation of chancres and progressing if untreated to bacteremia and widespread organ damage, such as skin ulcerations and tabes dorsalis.
noun
An infectious disease caused by a spirochete (Treponema pallidum) and transmitted usually by sexual intercourse or acquired congenitally: if untreated, it can ultimately lead to the degeneration of the heart, bones, nerve tissue, etc.
noun
An infectious disease caused by a spirochete (Treponema pallidum), usually transmitted sexually or in utero, marked initially by local formation of chancres and progressing if untreated to bacteremia and widespread organ damage, such as skin ulcerations and tabes dorsalis.
noun
A sexually transmitted disease caused by the spirochete Treponema pallidum that is characterized in its primary stage by genital sores. If untreated, skin ulcers develop in the next stage, called secondary syphilis. As the disease progresses to potentially fatal tertiary syphilis, neurologic involvement with weakness and skeletal or cardiovascular damage can occur.
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Origin of syphilis
- New Latin from Syphilis, sive Morbus Gallicus “Syphilis, or the French Disease,” title of a poem by Girolamo Fracastoro (1478?–1553) from Syphilus the poem's protagonist
From American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition
- Modern Latin, originally the title of a poem by Girolamo Fracastoro concerning "Syphilus", the supposed first sufferer of the disease.
From Wiktionary