Meanings
alternative syph
- uncountablemedicineA disease spread via sexual activity, caused by the bacterium Treponema pallidum.
I saw a film the other day about syphilis. Ugh! It was too awful. I couldn't let a man touch me for a week. Is it true you can get it from kissing?
1972, Jay Presson Allen, Cabaret, spoken by Sally Bowles (Liza Minnelli)Synonyms: cardboard box, Cupid's disease, French disease, French gout, French pox, great-pox, ladies' fever, leprosy
Synonyms & antonyms
nounA disease spread via sexual activity, caused by the bacterium Treponema pallidum.
More synonyms by meaning
nouna common venereal disease caused by the treponema pallidum spirochete; symptoms change through progressive stages; can be congenital (transmitted through the placenta)
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- New Latinsyphilis
- Englishsyphilis
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.
More words from New Latin
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Arabic زُهَرِيّ, مَرَض فِرَنْجِيّ
- زُهَرِيّ (zuhariyy)sexual disease caused by Treponema pallidum
- مَرَض فِرَنْجِيّ (maraḍ firanjiyy)sexual disease caused by Treponema pallidum
- اَلاِفْرَنْجِيّ (al-ifranjiyy)sexual disease caused by Treponema pallidum
Bulgarian сифилис
- сифилис (sifilis)sexual disease caused by Treponema pallidum
Catalan sífilis
- sífilissexual disease caused by Treponema pallidum
Chinese Mandarin 梅毒
- 梅毒 (méidú)sexual disease caused by Treponema pallidum
Czech syfilis, příjice
- syfilissexual disease caused by Treponema pallidum
- příjicesexual disease caused by Treponema pallidum
Danish syfilis
- syfilissexual disease caused by Treponema pallidum
Dutch syfilis, lues
- syfilissexual disease caused by Treponema pallidum
- luessexual disease caused by Treponema pallidum
- harde sjankersexual disease caused by Treponema pallidum
Esperanto sifiliso
- sifilisosexual disease caused by Treponema pallidum
Estonian süüfilis
- süüfilissexual disease caused by Treponema pallidum
Finnish syfilis, kuppa
- syfilissexual disease caused by Treponema pallidum
- kuppasexual disease caused by Treponema pallidum
French syphilis
- syphilissexual disease caused by Treponema pallidum
German Syphilis
- Syphilissexual disease caused by Treponema pallidum
Greek σύφιλη
- σύφιλη (sýfili)sexual disease caused by Treponema pallidum
Hawaiian kaokao
- kaokaosexual disease caused by Treponema pallidum
Hebrew עַגֶּבֶת
- עַגֶּבֶת ('agévet)sexual disease caused by Treponema pallidum
Hindi उपदंश
- उपदंश (updañś)sexual disease caused by Treponema pallidum
Hungarian szifilisz
- szifiliszsexual disease caused by Treponema pallidum
Icelandic sárasótt
- sárasóttsexual disease caused by Treponema pallidum
Indonesian raja singa, sifilis
- raja singasexual disease caused by Treponema pallidum
- sifilissexual disease caused by Treponema pallidum
- luessexual disease caused by Treponema pallidum
Irish bolgach fhrancach
- bolgach fhrancachsexual disease caused by Treponema pallidum
Italian sifilide, lue
- sifilidesexual disease caused by Treponema pallidum
- luesexual disease caused by Treponema pallidum
Japanese 梅毒, ジフィリス
- 梅毒 (baidoku)sexual disease caused by Treponema pallidum
- ジフィリス (shifirisu)sexual disease caused by Treponema pallidum
- 唐瘡 (karagasa)sexual disease caused by Treponema pallidum
Korean 매독
- 매독 (maedok)sexual disease caused by Treponema pallidum
Latvian sifiliss
- sifilisssexual disease caused by Treponema pallidum
Malay penyakit raja singa
- penyakit raja singasexual disease caused by Treponema pallidum
Māori pākewakewa, mate pākewakewa
- pākewakewasexual disease caused by Treponema pallidum
- mate pākewakewasexual disease caused by Treponema pallidum
Norwegian Bokmål syfilis
- syfilissexual disease caused by Treponema pallidum
Polish kiła, syfilis
- kiłasexual disease caused by Treponema pallidum
- syfilissexual disease caused by Treponema pallidum
- francasexual disease caused by Treponema pallidum
- przymiotsexual disease caused by Treponema pallidum
- luessexual disease caused by Treponema pallidum
Portuguese sífilis
- sífilissexual disease caused by Treponema pallidum
Punjabi ਆਤਸ਼ਕ
- ਆਤਸ਼ਕ (ātaśak)sexual disease caused by Treponema pallidum
Romanian sifilis
- sifilissexual disease caused by Treponema pallidum
Russian си́филис, сифо́н
- си́филис (sífilis)sexual disease caused by Treponema pallidum
- сифо́н (sifón)sexual disease caused by Treponema pallidum
- генера́л (generál)sexual disease caused by Treponema pallidum
Slovak syfilis
- syfilissexual disease caused by Treponema pallidum
Spanish sífilis, gálico
- sífilissexual disease caused by Treponema pallidum
- gálicosexual disease caused by Treponema pallidum
Swahili kaswende
- kaswendesexual disease caused by Treponema pallidum
Swedish syfilis
- syfilissexual disease caused by Treponema pallidum
Turkish frengi, sifilis
- frengisexual disease caused by Treponema pallidum
- sifilissexual disease caused by Treponema pallidum
Urdu آتشک
- آتشک (ātiśak)sexual disease caused by Treponema pallidum
Vietnamese giang mai
- giang maisexual disease caused by Treponema pallidum
Cite this entry
syphilis. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/syphilis
“syphilis.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/syphilis. Accessed November 2, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “syphilis,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/syphilis.
Source: syphilis on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.