Syphilis
/ˈsɪf.ɪ.lɪs/noun
A contagious sexually transmitted bacterial infection caused by Treponema pallidum.
Did you know?The name comes from a 1530 Latin poem by Girolamo Fracastoro, where a shepherd named Syphilus is struck with the disease after offending the sun god, turning a fictional curse into a real diagnosis.
Etymological Timeline
1530
Latin
Syphilis sive morbus gallicus
“A Neo-Latin poem title meaning 'Syphilis, or the French disease,' naming the disease after the poem's shepherd protagonist.”
1530
Latin
Syphilus
“The name of a shepherd character in Fracastoro's poem, who is punished by the gods with the disease.”
16th Century
European medical Latin
syphilis
“Used as the disease name, originally from the poem rather than from a preexisting medical term.”
16th–17th Century
French/English
syphilis
“Adopted into learned medical usage across Europe as the standard name for the infection.”
Modern English
English
syphilis
“The established medical term for the sexually transmitted infection.”
Explore more surprising origins