syphilis
noun/ˈsɪfɪlɪs/
/ˈsɪfɪlɪs/
[uncountable]- a disease that gets worse over a period of time, spreading from the sexual organs to the skin, bones, muscles and brain. It is caught by having sex with a person who already has the disease.Word Originearly 18th cent.: modern Latin, from Syphilis, sive Morbus Gallicus, the title of a Latin poem (1530), from the name of the character Syphilus, the supposed first sufferer of the disease.
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