A plague or pestilence; a spreading disease; especially, syphilis (Lues venerea).

Also a contagious disease among cattle.

An old name for syphilis, a sexually transmitted disease (STD) that has been around for centuries and is caused by Treponema pallidum, a microscopic organism called a spirochete, a worm-like spiral-shaped organism that infects by burrowing into the moist mucous membranes of the mouth or genitals.

A disease of admiration; a biographer's tendency to magnify his subject.

Venereal disease.

Syphilis or an acute and chronic infectious disease caused by the bacterium Treponema pallidum and transmitted by direct contact, usually through sexual intercourse.