/ ˈsɪfɪlɪs; NAmE / noun
[ U ] 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 an infected person.
► syph·il·it·ic / ˌsɪfɪˈlɪtɪk; NAmE / adjective
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WORD ORIGIN
early 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.