  A unique parametrization of secondary (thermal) dilepton yields in heavy-ion
experiments at CERN-SPS is proposed. This parametrization resembles a thermal
$q \bar q$ annihilation rate. This is inspired by the observation that lepton
pair production rates are quantitatively similar, whether expressed in a
hadronic or partonic basis. Adding the thermal yield and the background
contributions (hadronic cocktail, Drell-Yan, correlated semileptonic decays of
open charm) the spectral shapes of the CERES/NA45, NA38, NA50 and HELIOS/3 data
from experiments with lead and sulfur beams can be well described.
