Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- noun An infectious disease caused by a spirochete (Treponema pallidum),usually transmitted sexually or in utero, marked initially by local formation of chancres and progressing if untreated to bacteremia and widespread organ damage, such as skin ulcerations and tabes dorsalis.
from The Century Dictionary.
- noun An infectious venereal disease of chronic course, communicated from person to person by actual contact with discharges containing the virus, or by heredity.
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- noun (Med.) The pox, or venereal disease; a chronic, specific, infectious disease, usually communicated by sexual intercourse or by hereditary transmission, and occurring in three stages known as
primary ,secondary , andtertiary syphilis . See underprimary ,secondary , andtertiary .
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- noun pathology A
disease spread viasexual activity, caused by thebacterium Treponema pallidum .
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- noun a common venereal disease caused by the treponema pallidum spirochete; symptoms change through progressive stages; can be congenital (transmitted through the placenta)
Etymologies
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
Support
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Examples
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I guess the increase in syphilis is with men if you aren't seeing it in your practice?
Good Advice from the Ethicist on STI's aka TBTAM 2008
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The name syphilis comes from a poem written by the physician Girolamo Fracastoro in 1530, about a shepherd named Syphilus who offended the god Apollo and was punished with the world's first case of the pox.
Archive 2003-01-01 2003
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The route of transmission of syphilis is almost always through sexual contact.
Five Things You Didn't Know About Heckler Joe Wilson | myFiveBest 2009
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The route of transmission of syphilis is almost always through sexual contact.
The Dark Side of Wonderland: The Scandals of Lewis Carroll | myFiveBest 2010
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The syphilis is what drove the prince to being murderous and violent.
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The route of transmission of syphilis is almost always through sexual contact.
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As we all know, the study demonstrated treating syphilis is better than not treating it.
Barbara Coombs Lee: Once Again, Race Matters-But How? Barbara Coombs Lee 2010
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The route of transmission of syphilis is almost always through sexual contact.
Five Reasons You Should Be Watching Pawn Stars | myFiveBest 2009
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As we all know, the study demonstrated treating syphilis is better than not treating it.
Barbara Coombs Lee: Once Again, Race Matters-But How? Barbara Coombs Lee 2010
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The route of transmission of syphilis is almost always through sexual contact.
Five Things You Didn't Know About Steve McNair | myFiveBest 2009
whichbe commented on the word syphilis
"Old Joe".
May 7, 2008
chained_bear commented on the word syphilis
I like how the English called it "the French pox," but the French called it "the English pox."
Though it's not really funny.
p.s. Reesetee, a candidate for your "Worse Than They Sound" list, perhaps?
May 7, 2008
reesetee commented on the word syphilis
I dunno; I never thought this word was all that pretty, for some reason. Hmm.
May 7, 2008
chained_bear commented on the word syphilis
Oh, well, then don't add it.
I wonder about the name Phyllis, actually. It sure does sound like syphilis, but some people find it pretty, I guess.
May 7, 2008
reesetee commented on the word syphilis
Yes, but the same syllable isn't accented. Maybe that makes a difference?
May 7, 2008
she commented on the word syphilis
"Grandgore" just sounds so proud to be syphilis. :D
July 10, 2008
mzsanford commented on the word syphilis
Something about syphilis always sounded nice, apart from the actual meaning. Then someone mentioned it sounds like a Harry Potter spell and ruined it for me.
July 24, 2008
dontcry commented on the word syphilis
You have GOT to be kidding....*hork*
July 24, 2008
chained_bear commented on the word syphilis
Spirochete sounds lovely too, though it certainly isn't...
July 24, 2008
reesetee commented on the word syphilis
I agree with you on that one.
July 29, 2008
bilby commented on the word syphilis
"Syph and Clap (syphilis and gonorrhea) are two diseases that are easy to pick up. They come from balling. Anyone who claims they got it from sitting on a toilet seat must have a fondness for weird positions."
- Abbie Hoffman, 'Steal This Book', 1971.
February 18, 2009
chained_bear commented on the word syphilis
Interesting historical conversation accidentally spawned on (of all words) Bilbao.
... wasn't Beethoven born with syphilis?
April 6, 2009
dinkum commented on the word syphilis
WORD: syphilis
DEFINITION:
A chronic infectious disease caused by a spirochete (Treponema pallidum), either transmitted by direct contact, usually in sexual intercourse, or passed from mother to child in utero, and progressing through three stages characterized respectively by local formation of chancres, ulcerous skin eruptions, and systemic infection leading to general paresis paralysis . The chancre is known as primary syphilis, the diseases of the skin and mucous membranes as secondary syphilis, and the later disorders (diseases of the bones, muscles, arteries, and viscera) as tertiary syphilis.
For a very gruesome depiction of the effects of syphilis, see the 2004 film The Libertine, starring Johnny Depp as the syphilitic John Wilmot, 2nd Earl of Rochester, a notorious rake and libertine poet in the court of King Charles II of England.
EXAMPLE:
' As for the suspicion I express in this book, that human beings are robots, are machines: It should be noted that people, mostly men, suffering from the last stages of syphilis, from locomotor ataxia, were common spectacles in downtown Indianapolis and in circus crowds when I was a boy.
' Those people were infested with carnivorous little corkscrews which could be seen only with a microscope. The victims' vertebrae were welded together after the corkscrews got through with the meat between. The syphilitics seemed tremendously dignified -- erect, eyes straight ahead.
' I saw one stand on a curb at the corner of Meridian and Washington Streets one time . . . The intersection was known locally as "The Crossroads of America".
' This syphilitic man was thinking hard there, at the Crossroads of America, about how to get his legs to step off the curb and carry him across Washington Street. He shuddered gently, as though he had a small motor which was idling inside. Here was his problem: his brains, where the instructions to his legs originated, were being eaten alive by corkscrews. The wires which had to carry the instructions weren't insulated anymore, or were eaten clear through. Switches along the way were welded open or shut.
' This man looked like an old, old man, although he might have been only thirty years old. He thought and thought. And then he kicked two times like a chorus girl.
' He certainly looked like a machine to me when I was a boy. '
1973 KURT VONNEGUT, JR. Breakfast of Champions, or, Goodbye Blue Monday -- Preface (page 3).
September 3, 2013