syphilis English · revision 1543

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=eponym|attested=1718}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /ˈsɪfɪlɪs/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[la-new|syphilis]],^(AHD)^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline)^(MW Collegiate) from the title of a Latin poem, “Syphilis, sive Morbus Gallicus” (“Syphilis, or the French disease”), published in 1530 by the Veronese physician Girolamo Fracastoro.^(AHD)^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline)^(MW Collegiate)^(Hoad 1986) The poem tells of the shepherd Syphilus, supposed to be the first sufferer from the disease.^(AHD)^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline)^(Hoad 1986) Klein and Merriam-Webster's Book of Word Histories take the name to mean “swine lover”, from [[grc|σῦς|tr=sûs|t=pig]] and [[m|grc|φίλος|tr=phílos|t=friend, lover]];^(Klein 1966)^(MW Word Histories)^(Weekley 1921) the AHD says its source is not known for certain.^(AHD)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ The venereal disease (1718 in the OED, Barnhart and Merriam-Webster, though Merriam-Webster Unabridged gives a first use in 1653).^(OED 1989)^(Barnhart 1995)^(MW Collegiate)^(MWU 2024)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Fracastoro first used the word as a general name for the disease in his treatise ''De Contagione'' (1546).^(Etymonline) He is also remembered for a germ theory of disease far ahead of its time.^(MW Word Histories) The adjective ''syphilitic'' is recorded from 1786.^(Barnhart 1995)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1530 – Fracastoro's poem.^(AHD)^(Barnhart 1995)

+ * 1546 – Fracastoro's general use in ''De Contagione''.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1653 – first known use in Merriam-Webster Unabridged.^(MWU 2024)

+ * 1718 – English use (OED).^(OED 1989)^(Barnhart 1995)^(MW Collegiate)

+ * 1786 – ''syphilitic''.^(Barnhart 1995)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A chronic infectious disease caused by the [[spirochete]] ''Treponema pallidum'', usually passed on by sexual contact or from mother to child, which progresses through three stages, from a local [[chancre]] to skin eruptions and widespread infection.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU)^(Collins 2023)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[syphilitic]]

+ * [[syphiloid]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[venereal]]

+ * [[pox]]

+ * [[chancre]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}