From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishsyphilissyph‧i‧lis /ˈsɪfəlɪs/ noun [uncountable] MIa very serious disease that is passed from one person to another during sexual activity —syphilitic /ˌsɪfəˈlɪtɪk◂/ adjective
Examples from the Corpus
syphilis• Congenital syphilis is arbitrarily divided into early and late stages with the dividing line at two years of age.• How glad I am, she thought simply, that I have not suddenly contracted syphilis.• I also wonder if she feared syphilis.• Until 1942 there was no reliable cure for syphilis, too late for Karen Blixen.• The famous Wassermann diagnostic blood test for syphilis has been used for forty years.• A lumbar puncture may be required if syphilis or granulomatous infection is suspected.• Semen infected with hepatitis or syphilis can be donated, but only if a woman agrees to accept it.Origin syphilis (1700-1800) Modern Latin Syphilus, main character in the 16th-century poem Syphilis sive Morbus Gallicus “Syphilis or the French disease” by Girolamo Fracastoro 