climacteric

[ klahy-mak-ter-ik, klahy-mak-ter-ik ]

See synonyms for climacteric on Thesaurus.com

noun

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

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

adjective

Also cli·mac·ter·i·cal [klahy-mak-ter-i-kuhl]. /ˌklaɪ mækˈtɛr ɪ kəl/. critical; crucial.

Origin of climacteric

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

Other words from climacteric

cli·mac·ter·i·cal·ly, adverb

Words Nearby climacteric

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use climacteric in a sentence

I know I am at a climacteric for all men who live by their wits, so I do not despair.
The Works of Robert Louis Stevenson - Swanston Edition Vol. 25 (of 25) | Robert Louis Stevenson
There were those who pretended that the climacteric years were fatal to political bodies as well as to individuals.
The Mysteries of All Nations | James Grant
Yet the struggle for what was accomplished appears to have created a climacteric in the doer.
The Life of Napoleon Bonaparte | William Milligan Sloane
He was dizzily weak; collapse had quickly followed the climacteric excitement of being beside her, of speaking to her.
To Him That Hath | Leroy Scott
Lorenzo the Magnificent had been ruling Florence for many years and was then at the climacteric of his fame.
The World's Greatest Books, Vol X | Various

British Dictionary definitions for climacteric

climacteric

/ (klaɪˈmæktərɪk, ˌklaɪmækˈtɛrɪk) /

noun

a critical event or period
another name for menopause

the period in the life of a man corresponding to the menopause, chiefly characterized by diminished sexual activity
botany the period during which certain fruits, such as apples, ripen, marked by a rise in the rate of respiration

adjectiveAlso: climacterical (ˌklaɪmækˈtɛrɪkəl)

involving a crucial event or period

Origin of climacteric

C16: from Latin clīmactēricus, from Greek klimaktērikos, from klimakter rung of a ladder, from klimax ladder; see climax

Derived forms of climacteric

climacterically, adverb

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

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