Definition

1. Noun:
   • A chronic infectious disease: "lues" refers specifically to syphilis, a serious bacterial infection caused by Treponema pallidum, historically considered a major public health scourge.
   • A plague or pestilence (archaic): In older, more general usage, "lues" could refer to any contagious epidemic disease.

Examples of Usage

• Noun:
  • The patient was diagnosed with lues in its tertiary stage.
  • Historical texts sometimes use the term "lues" to describe the syphilis epidemics of the past.

Advanced Usage

• "Lues venerea": This is the full Latin-derived term, literally meaning "venereal plague," used historically to specify syphilis as a sexually transmitted infection.
  • Before the 20th century, lues venerea was a feared and poorly understood disease.

Variants and Related Words

• Luetic (adj): Pertaining to or affected with syphilis.
  • Luetic lesions are a hallmark of the secondary stage.
• Syphilis (n): The modern and more common term for the disease referred to as "lues."

Synonyms

• Syphilis: The direct and primary synonym.
• Pox (archaic): A historical term for syphilis or similar diseases causing skin pustules.

Notes on Meaning

The word "lues" is now primarily a technical, historical, or literary term. In modern medical and everyday contexts, "syphilis" is the standard and preferred term. Its archaic, more general meaning of "pestilence" is rarely used today.

Noun

1. a common venereal disease caused by the treponema pallidum spirochete; symptoms change through progressive stages; can be congenital (transmitted through the placenta)