ˈlīm- noun
also lyme or lyme borreliosis
Usage: usually capitalized L
Etymology: from Lyme , Connecticut, where it was first reported
: an acute inflammatory disease that is usually characterized initially by a spreading annular erythematous skin lesion and by fatigue, fever, and chills and if left untreated may later manifest itself in cardiac and neurological disorders, joint pain, and arthritis and that is caused by a spirochete of the genus Borrelia ( B. burgdorferi ) transmitted by the bite of an ixodid tick especially of the genus Ixodes ( I. scapularis syn. I. dammini in the eastern and midwestern U.S., I. pacificus in the Pacific northwestern U.S., and I. ricinus in Europe)