MENSTRUUM

menstruation, menses, menstruum, catamenia, period, flow

(noun) the monthly discharge of blood from the uterus of nonpregnant women from puberty to menopause; “the women were sickly and subject to excessive menstruation”; “a woman does not take the gout unless her menses be stopped”--Hippocrates; “the semen begins to appear in males and to be emitted at the same time of life that the catamenia begin to flow in females”--Aristotle

menstruum

(noun) (archaic) a solvent

Source: WordNet® 3.1


Etymology

Noun

menstruum (plural menstruums or menstrua)

(chiefly, in the plural, historical) The menses; menstrual discharge. [from 14th c.]

(historical) A solvent. [from 16th c.]

Any liquid medium.

Source: Wiktionary


Men"stru*um, n.; pl. E. Menstruums, L. Menstrua. Etym: [L. menstruus. See Menstruous.]

Definition: Any substance which dissolves a solid body; a solvent. The proper menstruum to dissolve metal. Bacon. All liquors are called menstruums which are used as dissolvents, or to extract the virtues of ingredients by infusion or decoction. Quincy.

Note: The use is supposed to have originated in some notion of the old chemists about the influence of the moon in the preparation of dissolvents. Johnson.

Source: Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary 1913 Edition



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Word of the Day

2 April 2025

COVERT

(adjective) secret or hidden; not openly practiced or engaged in or shown or avowed; “covert actions by the CIA”; “covert funding for the rebels”


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Coffee Trivia

According to Guinness World Records, the largest iced coffee is 14,228.1 liters and was created by Caffé Bene (South Korea), in Yangju, South Korea, on 17 July 2014. They poured iced black Americano on the giant cup that measured 3.3 meters tall and 2.62 meters wide.

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