one of a group of diseases, caused by a virus, that cause painful spots on the skin, especially on the face and sexual organs 疱疹 Oxford Collocations DictionaryHerpes is used before these nouns:- infection
- virus
Word Originlate Middle English (originally used also of other skin conditions): via Latin from Greek herpēs ‘shingles’, literally ‘creeping’, from herpein ‘to creep’.