Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English homepage

Topic: ILLNESS AND DISABILITY

Date: 1700-1800
Language: Modern Latin
Origin: Syphilus, main character in the 16th-century poem Syphilis sive Morbus Gallicus 'Syphilis or the French disease' by Girolamo Fracastoro

syphilis

 noun
     
syph‧i‧lis [uncountable]
MI a very serious disease that is passed from one person to another during sexual activity
—syphilitic adjective
Definition of syphilis from the Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English within
the topic ILLNESS AND DISABILITY
Word of the Day
The ILLNESS AND DISABILITY
Word of the Day is:
complication

Other related topics