Etymology

menstruation

men·stru·a·tion
M3E1N1S1T1R1U1A1T1I1O1N1

Today it means: The periodic discharging of the menses, the flow of blood and cells from the lining of the uterus in unfertilized females of humans and other primates. Full definition →

Late Latin menstruatioinflu. ← English menstruum ← Latin mēnstruum
Ask AI about its historyChatGPTClaudePerplexityGoogle AIGrok

The story

  1. Proto-Indo-European*dwóh₁
  2. Proto-Indo-European*dwi-
  3. Proto-Italic*dwi-
  4. Latinbi-
  5. Proto-Indo-European*med-
  6. Proto-Indo-European*meh₁-?
  7. Proto-Indo-European*mḗh₁n̥s
  8. Proto-Italic*mēns
  9. Proto-Italic*mēnsis
  10. Latinmēnsis
  11. Latinbimēnstrisbf.
  12. Latinannuusinflu.
  13. Latinmēnstruus
  14. Latinmēnstruum
  15. Englishmenstruum
  16. Late Latinmenstruatioinflu.
  17. English todaymenstruation

From menstruum + -ation, modelled after Late Latin menstruatio. The word is a cognate with French menstruation, Spanish menstruación, which displaced Old English mōnaþblōd (literally “monthblood”).

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.