MIa very serious disease that is passed from one person to another during sexual activity 梅毒
—syphilitic /ˌsɪfəˈlɪtɪk◂/adjectiveadj
Examples from the Corpus
syphilis• Congenitalsyphilis 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 contractedsyphilis.• I also wonder if she feared syphilis.• Until 1942 there was no reliablecure for syphilis, too late for Karen Blixen.• The famous Wassermann diagnosticbloodtest for syphilis has been used for forty years.• A lumbarpuncture may be required if syphilis or granulomatous infection is suspected.• Semeninfected with hepatitis or syphilis can be donated, but only if a woman agrees to accept it.
Originsyphilis
(1700-1800)Modern LatinSyphilus, main character in the 16th-century poem Syphilis sive Morbus Gallicus “Syphilis or the French disease” by Girolamo Fracastoro