menstruation

See also: Menstruation

English

Etymology

From menstruum +‎ -ation, modelled after Late Latin menstruatio. The word is cognate with French menstruation, Spanish menstruación, displaced Old English mōnaþblōd (literally “monthblood”)).

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˌmɛnstɹuːˈeɪʃən/, /ˌmɛnstɹʊˈeɪʃən/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˌmɛnstɹuˈeɪʃən/, /-stɹəˈweɪ-/, /ˌmɛnˈstɹeɪʃən/ (the latter pronunciation leading to the spelling menstration)

• Audio (General American, longer pronunciation); /ˌmɛnstɹuˈeɪʃən/:

  (file)

• Audio (General American, short pronunciation); /ˌmɛnˈstɹeɪʃən/:

  (file)

• Rhymes: -eɪʃən
• Hyphenation: men‧stru‧a‧tion

Noun

menstruation (countable and uncountable, plural menstruations)

1. The periodic discharging of the menses, the flow of blood and cells from the lining of the uterus in unfertilized females of humans and other primates.
   • 1981, William Irwin Thompson, The Time Falling Bodies Take to Light: Mythology, Sexuality and the Origins of Culture, London: Rider/Hutchinson & Co., page 267:

     It would seem that in Avebury, Stonehenge, and Malta the mystery cult of menstruation/mensuration reached its most consummate development.

   • 2002, Annie Potts, “Innerspace”, in The Science/Fiction of Sex: Feminist Deconstruction and the Vocabulares of Heterosex, Hove, East Sussex, New York, N.Y.: Routledge, →ISBN, part 2 (The Vocabularies of Heterosex), page 180:

     [T]he release of semen from the penis predominantly symbolizes a forceful masculine operation, an orgasmic ‘rush’ – ejaculate refers to a sudden happening, an ejection – while the ‘loss’ of blood during menstruation is viewed as a more or less passive occurrence. Even the metaphors employed to depict these two aspects of corporeality serve to situate them on differently gendered poles. Man ‘spoofs off’ or ‘shoots his load’, while woman ‘gets her visitor’, ‘has got her monthly’.

2. An instance of menstruation, the part of each month during which a fertile woman menstruates.

Alternative forms

• menstration (nonstandard, possibly proscribed)

Synonyms

• See Thesaurus:menstruation.

Derived terms

• male menstruation
• menstruation period

 

Related terms

• menstrual
• menstrual cycle
• menstruate
• menstruous
• menarche
• menopause

Translations

periodic discharging of the menses

• Albanian: menstruacion m, lara (sq) f
• Arabic: حَيْض m (ḥayḍ), طَمْث m (ṭamṯ)

  Egyptian Arabic: دورة f (dawra), عادة f (ʕāda), بريوت f (biryūt) ("period")

• Armenian: դաշտան (hy) (daštan), մենստրուացիա (hy) (menstruacʻia)

  Old Armenian: դաշտան (daštan)

• Azerbaijani: aybaşı
• Belarusian: менструа́цыя f (mjenstruácyja)
• Bengali: রজঃস্রাব (bn) (rojoḥsrab), স্ত্রীধর্ম (bn) (stridhormo), স্ত্রীরজ (striroj), কুসুম (bn) (kuśum)
• Bulgarian: менструа́ция f (menstruácija)
• Burmese: ရာသီလာခြင်း (rasilahkrang:), ဓမ္မတာ (my) (dhamma.ta), ပန်း (my) (pan:)
• Catalan: menstruació (ca) f
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 月經 / 月经 (zh) (yuèjīng), 經血 / 经血 (zh) (jīngxuè), 經期 / 经期 (zh) (jīngqī)

• Czech: menstruace (cs) f
• Danish: menstruation c
• Dutch: menstruatie (nl), ongesteldheid (nl) f
• Egyptian: (ḥzmn)
• Esperanto: menstruo
• Estonian: menstruatsioon
• Ewe: dzinukpɔkpɔ, ɣletikpɔkpɔ
• Finnish: kuukautiskierto (fi), kuukautiset (fi), menkat (fi)
• French: menstruation (fr) f, règles (fr) f pl
• Galician: menstruación (gl) f
• Gamilaraay: malagan
• Georgian: მენსტრუაცია (mensṭruacia), თვიური (tviuri)
• German: Menstruation (de) f, Periode (de) f, ihre Tage haben, Regel (de) f, Regelblutung (de) f, Monatsblutung (de) f
• Greek: εμμηνόρροια (el) f (emminórroia), περίοδος (el) (períodos)

  Ancient: ἀφεδρεία f (aphedreía)

• Greenlandic: aaqartarneq
• Hebrew: וֶסֶת (he) (veset)
• Hindi: रजोधर्म (hi) m (rajodharm), ऋतुस्राव m (ŕtusrāv), ऋतु (hi) m (ŕtu) (period, season), रजोस्राव m (rajosrāv), स्त्रीधर्म (hi) m (strīdharm), स्त्रीरज (hi) m (strīraj), कुसुम (hi) f (kusum), रजोदर्शन (hi) m (rajodarśan), रज (hi) m (raj), रजस्त्राव m (rajastrāv), मासिक धर्म m (māsik dharm), ऋत्व (hi) f (ŕtva), हैज (hi) m (haij), आर्तव (hi) m (ārtav), रजःस्राव m (rajaḥsrāv), पीरियड m (pīriyaḍ), मासिकधर्म (hi) m (māsikdharm)
• Hungarian: menstruáció (hu)
• Icelandic: blæðingar f pl, tíðir f pl
• Indonesian: menstruasi (id), haid (id), datang bulan (id)
• Irish: fuil mhíosta f, míostrú m
• Italian: mestruazione (it) f, ciclo (it) m, avere (it) le sue cose (it) (to be on her period, literally to have her own things)
• Japanese: 月経 (ja) (げっけい, gekkei), 月事 (ja) (げつじ, getsuji), 生理 (ja) (seiri)
• Kazakh: етеккір (etekkır)
• Khmer: ដំណើរមានរដូវ (dɑmnaə mien rɔdəv), រដូវ (rɔdəv)
• Kikuyu: mweri class 3
• Korean: 월경 (ko) (wolgyeong), 생리 (ko) (saengni)
• Kurdish:

  Northern Kurdish: xwîndîtin (ku)

• Kyrgyz: айыз (ky) (ayız)
• Lao: ການມີລະດູ (kān mī la dū)
• Latin: menstrua n pl
• Latvian: menstruācija f
• Lithuanian: mėnesinių ciklas, menstruacija f
• Macedonian: менструа́ција f (menstruácija)
• Malay: haid (ms)
• Manchu: ᡥᠠᠯᠠᠨ (halan)
• Maori: mate wahine, mate marama, waiwhero
• Marathi: पाळी f (pāḷī), मासिक पाळी f (māsik pāḷī), ऋतु (mr) f (ŕtu) ऋत्व f (ŕtva) आर्तव f (ārtav) रजस् f (rajas) कन्याव्रत f (kanyāvrat)
• Mongolian: биеийн юм (bijeiin jüm)
• Norwegian: menstruasjon
• Old East Slavic: цвѣтьно (cvětĭno)
• Persian: عادت ماهانه (fa) ('âdat-e mâhâne), قاعدگی (fa) (qâ'edegi), پریود (fa) (period), حیض (fa) (heyz), دشتان (fa) (daštân)
• Piedmontese: mëstruassion f
• Polish: miesiączka (pl) f, menstruacja (pl) f, okres (pl) m
• Portuguese: menstruação (pt) f, regras (pt) f pl
• Romagnol: régul f pl
• Romanian: menstruație (ro) f
• Russian: менструа́ция (ru) f (menstruácija), менструа́льный цикл (ru) m (menstruálʹnyj cikl), ме́сячные (ru) pl (mésjačnyje)
• Sanskrit: ऋतु (sa) m (ṛtu)
• Scottish Gaelic: fuil-mhìos f
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: мјесечница f, менструација f

  Roman: mjesečnica (sh) f, menstruacija (sh) f

• Slovak: menštruácia (sk) f
• Slovene: menstruacija (sl) f, číšča f
• Spanish: menstruación (es) f, regla (es) f, achaque (es) m (disused), periodo (es) m, chinto m, menstruo (es) m, período (es) m, mes (es) m
• Sundanese: ᮊᮛᮨᮞᮨᮘᮔ᮪ (kareseban)
• Swahili: hedhi (sw)
• Swedish: menstruation (sv) c
• Tagalog: kanya, sapanahon, regla, buwanang dalaw
• Tajik: ҳайз (hayz)
• Telugu: ఋతుస్రావం (r̥tusrāvaṁ)
• Thai: ประจำเดือน (th) (bprà-jam-dʉʉan), เมนส์ (th) (men), ระดู (th) (rá-duu)
• Turkish: âdet (tr), aybaşı (tr), hayız (tr), regl (tr)
• Turkmen: aýbaşy (tk)
• Ukrainian: мі́сячні pl (mísjačni), менструа́ція f (menstruácija)
• Urdu: حیض (hayz)
• Uzbek: hayz (uz)
• Vietnamese: chu kỳ kinh nguyệt, kinh nguyệt (vi)
• Yiddish: מענסטרואַציע (menstruatsye), ווסתּ f (ves(e)t), ווסת f (veyses), צײַט (yi) f (tsayt)

instance or period of menstruation

• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 每个月那几天

• Danish: tid på måneden
• Finnish: se aika kuusta
• Indonesian: datang bulan (id)

See also

• PMT
• tampon
• sanitary towel

Danish

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /mɛnsdʁuɑˈɕoˀn/, /mɛnsdʁuaˈɕoˀn/

Noun

menstruation c (singular definite menstruationen, plural indefinite menstruationer)

1. menstruation

Declension

Declension of menstruation

common gender	Singular		Plural
	indefinite	definite	indefinite	definite
nominative	menstruation	menstruationen	menstruationer	menstruationerne
genitive	menstruations	menstruationens	menstruationers	menstruationernes

References

• “menstruation” in Den Danske Ordbog

French

Pronunciation

• Audio:

  (file)

Noun

menstruation f (plural menstruations)

1. menstruation; period

   Synonym: règles

Further reading

• “menstruation”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.

Swedish

Etymology

menstruum +‎ -ation, modelled after Late Latin menstruatio. The word is cognate with French menstruation, English menstruation, Spanish menstruación.

Noun

menstruation c

1. menstruation

   Synonym: mens

Declension

Declension of menstruation

		nominative	genitive
singular	indefinite	menstruation	menstruations
	definite	menstruationen	menstruationens
plural	indefinite	menstruationer	menstruationers
	definite	menstruationerna	menstruationernas

Related terms

• menstruera

References

• menstruation in Svensk ordbok (SO)
• menstruation in Svenska Akademiens ordlista (SAOL)
• menstruation in Svenska Akademiens ordbok (SAOB)