Meanings
mittelschmerz1
- uncountableLower abdominal and pelvic pain that occurs roughly midway through the menstrual cycle, during ovulation.
Only about one in five women experience mittelschmerz, and Suse is one of those women.
2017, Mark Nethercote, A Time for Grace, Simon and Schuster, →ISBN2 more examples
The feeling might last a few minutes or a few hours. Some women mark the times when they experience mittelschmerz in the miscellaneous section of their chart. Fertility indicators, available online or over the counter, also measure ...
2004, Katie Singer, The Garden of Fertility: A Guide to Charting Your Fertility Signals to Prevent Or Achieve Pregnancy--naturally--and to Gauge Your Reproductive Health, Penguin, →ISBN, page 27German for “mid pain,” mittelschmerz is the medical term for painful ovulation. For some, it may be dull and cramp-like, while others experience mittelschmerz as a sharp, sudden, “stabbing” pain.
2019, Amanda Laird, Heavy Flow: Breaking the Curse of Menstruation, Dundurn, →ISBN, page 90
Mittelschmerz2
- Alternative letter-case form of mittelschmerz.
... pain can sometimes be quite severe and may be mistaken for the onset of acute appendicitis, but it generally lasts only a few hours, sometimes accompanied by slight bleeding. Many women do not experience Mittelschmerz, and its causes ...
1993, Irene M. Franck, David M. Brownstone, The Women's Desk Reference, Viking Adult, page 4481 more example
For example, if you experience Mittelschmerz during your mucus patch, it might be a sign you are very close to ovulation. There's another benefit to knowing about Mittelschmerz. If you experience this as a pain in conjunction with other signs of ...
1996, John F. Kippley, Sheila Kippley, The Art of Natural Family Planning, Couple to Couple League, →ISBN
Origin
- GermanMittelschmerz
- Englishmittelschmerz
From German Mittelschmerz, from mittel (“middle”) + Schmerz (“pain”), because it occurs in the middle of the menstrual cycle.
More words from German
Full word history & related roots →Cite this entry
mittelschmerz. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/mittelschmerz
“mittelschmerz.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/mittelschmerz. Accessed November 4, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “mittelschmerz,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/mittelschmerz.
Source: mittelschmerz on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.