menstruate

English

Etymology 1

From menstruum +‎ -ate (verb-forming suffix); sense 2 (“to undergo menstruation”) is possibly a back-formation from menstruation.[1]

Pronunciation

  • (Received Pronunciation) IPA(key): /ˈmɛnstɹʊeɪt/
  • Audio (Southern England):(file)
  • (General American) IPA(key): /ˌmɛnstɹuˈeɪt/, /ˈmɛnstɹəˌweɪt/, /ˌmɛnˈstɹeɪt/ (the latter pronunciation leading to the spelling menstrate)
  • Rhymes: -eɪt
  • Hyphenation: men‧stru‧ate

Verb

menstruate (third-person singular simple present menstruates, present participle menstruating, simple past and past participle menstruated)

  1. (transitive, obsolete, rare) To stain with or as if with menses.
  2. (intransitive) To undergo menstruation, to have a period.
    Synonyms: be on one's period, be on the rag
    • 1884, The Medical Age, volume 2, page 358:
      A woman may have every quality or attribute of marriageableness who menstruates irregularly, or rarely, or even who has never menstruated at all.
    • 1885, Hermann Heinrich Ploss, Max Bartels, Paul Bartels, translated by Eric John Dingwall, Woman: an historical, gynæcological and anthropological compendium, page 150:
      Among the ancient Iranians, the puerpera, like the menstruating woman, was regarded as "unclean".
    • 2021 November 20, Angela Mollard, “Gen Z cancelling musical Grease is disappointing”, in The Daily Telegraph, Surrey Hills, N.S.W:
      Fortunately, there’s early signs of a “wokelash” from institutions that won’t cower to this nonsense. When staff at publisher Hachette threatened to down tools because they regarded JK Rowling as a toxic transphobe for a tweet mocking “people” who menstruate instead of “women”, management pushed back saying they couldn’t refuse to work on a book because they disagree with the author’s views.
Alternative forms
Translations

Etymology 2

From menstruum +‎ -ate (adjective-forming usffix).

Adjective

menstruate (not comparable)

  1. (obsolete) Menstrual.

References

  1. ^ menstruate, v.”, in OED Online , Oxford: Oxford University Press, September 2001.

Further reading

Anagrams

Italian

Etymology 1

Verb

menstruate

  1. inflection of menstruare:
    1. second-person plural present indicative
    2. second-person plural imperative

Etymology 2

Participle

menstruate f pl

  1. feminine plural of menstruato

Anagrams

Latin

Verb

mēnstruāte

  1. second-person plural present active imperative of mēnstruō

Spanish

Verb

menstruate

  1. second-person singular voseo imperative of menstruar combined with te