yaws
noun/ˈjɔːz/
Etymology Uncertain. Attested since the 1670s, perhaps from an English creole (or other language) of the Caribbean.
1
Medicine, Pathology, Sciences A contagious tropical disease, caused by the spirochete Treponema pertenue, characterized by yellowish or reddish tumors, which often resemble berries.
- Other threats came from organisms co-evolving with humans, including tapeworms and such spirochaetes as Treponema, the agent of syphilis, and the similar skin infection, yaws.1997, Roy Porter, The Greatest Benefit to Mankind, Folio Society, published 2016, page 16:
- Derived terms
- crab yaws