The story
- New Latin · borrowed fromsyphilis
- English todaysyphilis
From New Latin syphilis, originally the title of a poem, circa 1530, by Girolamo Fracastoro concerning “Syphilus”, a shepherd boy who insulted the Greek god Apollo and was punished by that god with a horrible disease. Syphilis in the Old World began circa 1495. More in Wikipedia at History of syphilis.
Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.