syphilis

syph·i·lis

noun \ˈsi-f(ə-)ləs\

Definition of SYPHILIS

: 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

Origin of SYPHILIS

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

First Known Use: 1718

syph·i·lis

noun \ˈsif-(ə-)ləs\   (Medical Dictionary)

Medical Definition of SYPHILIS

: a chronic contagious usually venereal and often congenital disease that is caused by a spirochete of the genus Treponema (T. pallidum) and if left untreated produces chancres, rashes, and systemic lesions in a clinical course with three stages continued over many years—called also lues; see primary syphilis, secondary syphilis, tertiary syphilis

Biographical Note for SYPHILIS

Syph·i·lus \ˈsif-ə-ləs\ literary character. Syphilus is the hero of the 1530 Latin poem “Syphilis or the French Disease,” which was written by the Italian physician and poet Girolamo Fracastoro. Syphilus is a swineherd who blasphemes a sun god and as a punishment is afflicted with a disease.

syphilis

noun    (Concise Encyclopedia)

Sexually transmitted disease caused by the spirochete Treponema pallidum. Without treatment, it may progress through three stages: primary, characterized by a chancre and low fever; secondary (weeks to months later; only half of those infected display symptoms), with a skin and mucous-membrane rash, lymph node swelling, and bone, joint, eye, and nervous system involvement; and tertiary. The tertiary stage follows a latency period that can last years, and only one-fourth of those infected display tertiary symptoms. These can be benign or incapacitating and even fatal; almost any part of the body may be attacked. Syphilis can spread to a fetus from an infected mother. Other species of Treponema cause similar but milder, nonsexually transmitted forms of syphilis (see yaws). Several blood tests can detect syphilis, even during latency. Antibiotic treatment is effective.