Main Entry: syph·i·lis

Pronunciation: \ˈsi-f(ə-)ləs\

Function: noun

Etymology: New Latin, from Syphilus, hero of the poem Syphilis sive Morbus Gallicus (Syphilis or the French disease) (1530) by Girolamo Fracastoro †1553 Italian poet and physician

Date: 1718

: a chronic contagious usually venereal and often congenital disease caused by a spirochete (Treponema pallidum) and if left untreated producing chancres, rashes, and systemic lesions in a clinical course with three stages continued over many years — compare primary syphilis, secondary syphilis, tertiary syphilis

— syph·i·lit·ic \ˌsi-fə-ˈli-tik\ adjective or noun