climacteric

American  

[klahy-mak-ter-ik, klahy-mak-ter-ik] / klaɪˈmæk tər ɪk, ˌklaɪ mækˈtɛr ɪk /

noun

1. Physiology. a period of decrease of reproductive capacity in men and women, culminating, in women, in the menopause.

2. any critical period.

3. a year in which important changes in health, fortune, etc., are held by some theories to occur, as one's sixty-third year grand climacteric.

4. the period of maximum respiration in a fruit, during which it becomes fully ripened.

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adjective

1. Also climacterical critical; crucial.

climacteric British  

/ ˌklaɪmækˈtɛrɪk, klaɪˈmæktərɪk /

noun

1. a critical event or period

2. another name for menopause

3. the period in the life of a man corresponding to the menopause, chiefly characterized by diminished sexual activity

4. botany the period during which certain fruits, such as apples, ripen, marked by a rise in the rate of respiration

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adjective

1. involving a crucial event or period

Other Word Forms

• climacterically adverb

Etymology

Origin of climacteric

1595–1605; < Latin clīmactēricus < Greek klīmaktērikós ( klīmaktḗr rung of a ladder, critical point in life, equivalent to klīmak-, stem of klîmax ( climax ) + -tēr noun suffix) + -ikos -ic

Example Sentences

Tomatoes are climacteric, meaning they will continue to ripen after they are picked.

From Washington Post • Jul. 11, 2022

These are called climacteric, and will respond to the presence of ethylene by producing more ethylene.

From Washington Post • May 31, 2022

“The climacteric marks the end of apologising. The chrysalis of conditioning has once and for all to break and the female woman finally to emerge.”

From The Guardian • Aug. 11, 2018

Before reaching that climacteric, he resolves to write a hit musical and get married.

From Time Magazine Archive

Alas! he has not even reached his grand climacteric.

From The Ivory Gate, a new edition by Besant, Walter, Sir