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climacteric

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cli⋅mac⋅ter⋅ic

  [klahy-mak-ter-ik, klahy-mak-ter-ik]
Use climacteric in a Sentence
–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.
–adjective
5. Also, cli⋅mac⋅ter⋅i⋅cal  [klahy-mak-ter-i-kuhl] . critical; crucial.
Origin:
1595–1605; < L clīmactēricus < Gk klīmaktērikós (klīmaktr rung of a ladder, critical point in life, equiv. to klīmak-, s. of klîmax (see climax ) + -tēr n. suffix) + -ikos -ic

Related forms:
cli⋅mac⋅ter⋅i⋅cal⋅ly, adverb
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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cli·mac·ter·ic   (klī-māk'tər-ĭk, klī'māk-těr'ĭk)   
n.  

    1. A period of life characterized by physiological and psychic change that marks the end of the reproductive capacity of women and terminates with the completion of menopause.

    2. A corresponding period sometimes occurring in men that may be marked by a reduction in sexual activity, although fertility is retained.

  2. A critical period or year in a person's life when major changes in health or fortune are thought to take place.

  3. A critical stage, period, or year: "before the end of the millennium, whether [he] lives to see that ecclesiastical climacteric or not" (Conor Cruise O'Brien).

adj.  

  1. Of or relating to a climacteric.

  2. Critical; crucial.


[From Latin clīmactēricus, of a dangerous period in life, from Greek klīmaktērikos, from klīmaktēr, dangerous point, rung of a ladder, from klīmax, ladder; see climax.]
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Word Origin & History

climacteric 
1601, from L. climactericus, from Gk. klimakterikos "of a critical period," from klimakter "rung of a ladder" (see climax). A critical stage in human life, a period supposed to be especially liable to change. By some, held to be the years that are multiples of 7 (7, 14, 21, etc.), by others only the odd multiples (7, 21, 35, etc.), and by still others the multiples of 9. The Great Climacteric was the 63rd year (7x9), supposed to be especially critical.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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Medical Dictionary

Main Entry: 1cli·mac·ter·ic
Pronunciation: klI-'mak-t(&-)rik, "klI-"mak-'ter-ik
Function: adjective
: constituting orcharacterized by the climacteric climacteric state> climacteric patient aged 50>

Main Entry: 2climacteric
Function: noun
1 : MENOPAUSE
2 : a period in the life of a male corresponding to female menopause and usually occurring with less well-defined physiological and psychological changes called also male climacteric,male menopause, viropause
Merriam-Webster's Medical Dictionary, © 2002 Merriam-Webster, Inc.
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Medical Dictionary

climacteric cli·mac·ter·ic (klī-māk'tər-ĭk, klī'māk-těr'ĭk)
n.

  1. A period of life characterized by physiological and psychic change that marks the end of the reproductive capacity of women and terminates with the completion of menopause.

  2. A corresponding period sometimes occurring in men that may be marked by a reduction in sexual activity, although fertility is retained.

The American Heritage® Stedman's Medical Dictionary
Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.
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