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)
- (transitive, obsolete, rare) To stain with or as if with menses.
- (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
- menstrate (nonstandard, possibly proscribed)
Related terms
Translations
to undergo menstruation
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Etymology 2
From menstruum + -ate (adjective-forming usffix).
Adjective
menstruate (not comparable)
- (obsolete) Menstrual.
References
- ^ “menstruate, v.”, in OED Online , Oxford: Oxford University Press, September 2001.
Further reading
- menstruation on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
Anagrams
Italian
Etymology 1
Verb
menstruate
- inflection of menstruare:
- second-person plural present indicative
- second-person plural imperative
Etymology 2
Participle
menstruate f pl
- feminine plural of menstruato
Anagrams
Latin
Verb
mēnstruāte
- second-person plural present active imperative of mēnstruō
Spanish
Verb
menstruate