lues

[ loo-eez ]

noun

, Pathology.

1. syphilis.

lues

/ ˈluːiːz; luːˈɛtɪk /

noun

1. any venereal disease
2. a pestilence

Derived Forms

• luetic, adjective
• luˈetically, adverb

Word History and Origins

Origin of lues¹

1625–35; < New Latin, special use of Latin luēs plague, contagion

Word History and Origins

Origin of lues¹

C17: from New Latin, from Latin: calamity

Example Sentences

It is only when they have taken to bragging that the lues Napoleonica has set in.

From Project Gutenberg

Wishing to avoid the lues biographica, I assumed a somewhat too purely critical attitude while writing.

From Project Gutenberg

Miscarriages in a woman should arouse the suspicion of lues in her husband.

From Project Gutenberg

One week later, a “special cable” to The Times told of 503 cases of illness treated with “Preparation 606” in Berlin, including “the various forms of lues,” as syphilis was then called.

From New York Times

The mercury prevents ulcers from being formed under the mucous membrane, or cures them, as in the lues venerea; and the rhubarb is necessary to keep the bowels open.

From Project Gutenberg