■ noun a sexually transmitted bacterial disease, progressing if untreated from infection of the genitals via the skin and mucous membranes to the bones, muscles, and brain.
Derivatives
syphilitic adjective &noun
Origin
C18: mod. L., from Syphilis, sive Morbus Gallicus , the title of a poem (1530), from the name of the character Syphilus , the supposed first sufferer of the disease.