Word Pronunciation & Dictionary

french disease

Word Rarity Uncommon

Frequency: Zipf frequency 4.68 in modern English

Syllables: french dis-ease
IPA

22

Scrabble Score

13

Letters

2

Syllables

10

Unique Chars

Meaning

name

Dated

Example Sentences

"Although the Inquisition trials dealing with the French disease are few in number, the cases provide competing opinions about the cause of illness, thereby providing some insights into how the categories of natural and supernatural[…]"

Etymology

The full explanation of why syphilis was called the French disease as a calque across various languages involves a 1495 outbreak involving French soldiers (more in Wikipedia at History of syphilis); but it is also true that this term is one of several that blame othered ethnicities for distasteful and unseemly things.

Usage

Dated

Inflected Forms

the French disease (canonical)

Phrases

French kissing

Frequently Paired Words

French kissing

Synonyms

French pox French gout

Questions

What does french disease mean?: Syphilis.
Where does french disease come from?: The full explanation of why syphilis was called the French disease as a calque across various languages involves a 1495 outbreak involving French soldiers (more in Wikipedia at History of syphilis); but it is also true that this term is one of several that blame othered ethnicities for distasteful and unseemly things.

How to pronounce french disease

Open the pronunciation page — Open the Speakur entry for “french disease”.
Read the phonetic spelling — Read the IPA spelling () so you know which sounds to aim for.
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