Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun The permanent cessation of menstruation, usually occurring between the ages of 45 and 55.
  • noun The period during which such cessation occurs.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun The final cessation of the menses or monthly courses of women, which occurs normally between the ages of forty-five and fifty; the end of menstruation.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • noun (Med.) The period of natural cessation of menstruation. See Change of life, under change.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun The ending of menstruation; the time in a woman's life when this happens.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

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

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[New Latin mēnopausis : meno– + Greek pausis, pause; see pause.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From Latin menopausis, from Ancient Greek ἔμμηνος ("monthly") + παῦσις ("pause"). Equivalent to meno- + -pause.

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