a form of late syphilis that attacks the spinal cord causing degeneration of the nerve fibres, pains in the legs, paralysis of the leg muscles, acute abdominal pain, etc
Also called: locomotor ataxia
Word origin
New Latin, literally: tabes of the back; see tabes, dorsal
tabes dorsalis in American English
(dɔrˈseɪlɪs; dɔrˈsælɪs)
a chronic disease of the nervous system, usually caused by syphilis and characterized by disturbances of sensations, loss of reflexes and of muscular coordination, functional disorders of organs, etc.