syphilis
/ˈsɪfɪlɪs/noun
mass noun
1- a chronic bacterial disease that is contracted chiefly by infection during sexual intercourse, but also congenitally by infection of a developing fetus梅毒。
1.1
- This is caused by the spirochaete Treponema pallidum. The infection progresses in four successive stages: primary syphilis, characterized by a chancre in the part infected; secondary syphilis, affecting chiefly the skin, lymph nodes, and mucous membranes; tertiary syphilis, involving the spread of tumour-like lesions (gummas) throughout the body, frequently damaging the cardiovascular and central nervous systems; quaternary syphilis neurosyphilis.梅毒由螺旋菌引起, 感染的过程有四个阶段：第一期感染的部分出现下疳; 第二期主要是影响到皮肤、淋巴结和黏液膜; 第三期梅毒瘤将遍布全身, 往往破坏心血管和中枢神经系统; 第四期则是神经梅毒。
派生词
syphilitic
adjective & noun词源
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.