CLIMACTERIC

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does climacteric mean? 

• CLIMACTERIC (noun)
  The noun CLIMACTERIC has 2 senses:

1. a period in a man's life corresponding to menopause

2. the time in a woman's life in which the menstrual cycle ends

  Familiarity information: CLIMACTERIC used as a noun is rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• CLIMACTERIC (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

A period in a man's life corresponding to menopause

Classified under:

Nouns denoting time and temporal relations

Hypernyms ("climacteric" is a kind of...):

biological time (the time of various biological processes)

Holonyms ("climacteric" is a part of...):

middle age (the time of life between youth and old age (e.g., between 40 and 60 years of age))

Sense 2

Meaning:

The time in a woman's life in which the menstrual cycle ends

Classified under:

Nouns denoting time and temporal relations

Synonyms:

change of life; climacteric; menopause

Hypernyms ("climacteric" is a kind of...):

biological time (the time of various biological processes)

Holonyms ("climacteric" is a part of...):

middle age (the time of life between youth and old age (e.g., between 40 and 60 years of age))

 Context examples 

A grouping of variable physical, vasomotor and psychological symptoms in climacteric females.

(Menopausal Syndrome, NCI Thesaurus)

All that he did know was that a climacteric in his life had been attained.

(Martin Eden, by Jack London)

He had the "Love-sonnets from the Portuguese" in mind as he wrote, and he wrote under the best conditions for great work, at a climacteric of living, in the throes of his own sweet love-madness.

(Martin Eden, by Jack London)