syph·i·lis (s f -l s)n. A chronic infectious disease caused by a spirochete (Treponema pallidum), either transmitted by direct contact, usually in sexual intercourse, or passed from mother to child in utero, and progressing through three stages characterized respectively by local formation of chancres, ulcerous skin eruptions, and systemic infection leading to general paresis.
[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.] Word History: In 1530 Girolamo Fracastoro, a physician, astronomer, and poet of Verona, published a poem entitled "Syphilis, sive Morbus Gallicus," translated as "Syphilis, or the French Disease." In Fracastoro's poem the name of this dreaded venereal disease is an altered form of the name of the hero Syphilus, a shepherd who is supposed to have been the first victim of the disease. Where the name Syphilus itself came from is not known for certain, but it has been suggested that Fracastoro borrowed it from Ovid's Metamorphoses. In Ovid's work Sipylus (spelled Siphylus in some manuscripts) is the oldest son of Niobe, who lived not far from Mount Sipylon in Asia Minor. Fracastoro's poem about Syphilus was modeled on the story of Niobe. Fracastoro went on to use the term syphilis again in his medical treatise De Contagione, published in 1546. The word that Fracastoro used in Latin was eventually borrowed into English, being first recorded in 1718. |
syphilis [ˈsɪfɪlɪs]n (Medicine / Pathology) a venereal disease caused by infection with the microorganism Treponema pallidum: characterized by an ulcerating chancre, usually on the genitals and progressing through the lymphatic system to nearly all tissues of the body, producing serious clinical manifestations [from New Latin Syphilis (sive Morbus Gallicus) ``Syphilis (or the French disease)'', title of a poem (1530) by G. Fracastoro, Italian physician and poet, in which a shepherd Syphilus is portrayed as the first victim of the disease] syphilitic [ˌsɪfɪˈlɪtɪk] adj syphilitically adv syphiloid adj
ThesaurusLegend: Synonyms Related Words Antonyms | Noun | 1. | syphilis - a common venereal disease caused by the treponema pallidum spirochete; symptoms change through progressive stages; can be congenital (transmitted through the placenta)primary syphilis - the first stage; characterized by a chancre at the site of infection secondary syphilis - the second stage; characterized by eruptions of the skin and mucous membrane tertiary syphilis - the third stage; characterized by involvement of internal organs especially the brain and spinal cord as well as the heart and liver chancre - a small hard painless nodule at the site of entry of a pathogen (as syphilis) |
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