Menopause

//ˈmɛnəpɔːz// noun, verb

noun, verb ·Uncommon ·Advanced level

Definitions

Noun
  1. 1
    The period in a woman's life when menstruation becomes irregular and less frequent before eventually stopping altogether, usually accompanied by a range of unpleasant symptoms; the period spanning perimenopause up to postmenopause. countable, uncountable

    "The encounter soured Thomas's relationship with Jessa, who had founded the mobile payments company, with the chief executive eventually attributing the 51-year-old's behavior to the menopause, an employment tribunal was told."

  2. 2
    the time in a woman's life in which the menstrual cycle ends wordnet
  3. 3
    The final menstrual period of a woman after which ovulation no longer occurs. countable, uncountable
Verb
  1. 1
    To undergo the menopause. intransitive, rare

Synonyms

All synonyms
change of lifeclimactericestropausefemopause

Example

More examples

"Menopause is the end of menstruation."

Etymology

From French ménopause, from Latin menopausis, from Ancient Greek μήν (mḗn, “month”) + παῦσις (paûsis, “pause”). Equivalent to meno- + -pause.

Related phrases

male menopause

More for "menopause"

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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.