# menstruation
## English
### Etymology

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

### Pronunciation

* (Received Pronunciation) IPA: /ˌmɛnstɹuːˈeɪʃən/, /ˌmɛnstɹʊˈeɪʃən/
* (General American) IPA: /ˌmɛnstɹuˈeɪʃən/, /-stɹəˈweɪ-/, /ˌmɛnˈstɹeɪʃən/ (the latter pronunciation leading to the spelling menstration)
* Audio (General American, longer pronunciation); /ˌmɛnstɹuˈeɪʃən/:(file)
* Audio (General American, short pronunciation); /ˌmɛnˈstɹeɪʃən/:(file)
* Rhymes: -eɪʃən
* Hyphenation: men‧stru‧a‧tion

### Noun

menstruation (countable and uncountable, plural menstruations)
* 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.
** 1981, William Irwin Thompson, The Time Falling Bodies Take to Light: Mythology, Sexuality and the Origins of Culture, London: Rider/Hutchinson & Co., page 267:It would seem that in Avebury, Stonehenge, and Malta the mystery cult of menstruation/mensuration reached its most consummate development.
** 2002, Annie Potts, “Innerspace”, in The Science/Fiction of Sex: Feminist Deconstruction and the Vocabulares of Heterosex, Hove, East Sussex, New York, N.Y.: Routledge, →ISBN, part 2 (The Vocabularies of Heterosex), page 180:[T]he release of semen from the penis predominantly symbolizes a forceful masculine operation, an orgasmic ‘rush’ – ejaculate refers to a sudden happening, an ejection – while the ‘loss’ of blood during menstruation is viewed as a more or less passive occurrence. Even the metaphors employed to depict these two aspects of corporeality serve to situate them on differently gendered poles. Man ‘spoofs off’ or ‘shoots his load’, while woman ‘gets her visitor’, ‘has got her monthly’.
* An instance of menstruation, the part of each month during which a fertile woman menstruates.

#### Alternative forms

* menstration (nonstandard, possibly proscribed)

#### Synonyms

* See Thesaurus:menstruation.

#### Derived terms

* male menstruation
* menstruation period

#### Related terms

* menstrual
* menstrual cycle
* menstruate
* menstruous
* menarche
* menopause

#### Translations

Albanian: menstruacion m, lara (sq) f
Arabic: حَيْض m (ḥayḍ), طَمْث m (ṭamṯ)
Egyptian Arabic: دورة f (dawra), عادة f (ʕāda), بريوت f (biryūt) ("period")
Armenian: դաշտան (hy) (daštan), մենստրուացիա (hy) (menstruacʻia)
Old Armenian: դաշտան (daštan)
Azerbaijani: aybaşı
Belarusian: менструа́цыя f (mjenstruácyja)
Bengali: রজঃস্রাব (bn) (rojoḥsrab), স্ত্রীধর্ম (bn) (stridhormo), স্ত্রীরজ (striroj), কুসুম (bn) (kuśum)
Bulgarian: менструа́ция f (menstruácija)
Burmese: ရာသီလာခြင်း (rasilahkrang:), ဓမ္မတာ (my) (dhamma.ta), ပန်း (my) (pan:)
Catalan: menstruació (ca) f
Chinese:
Mandarin: 月經 / 月经 (zh) (yuèjīng), 經血 / 经血 (zh) (jīngxuè), 經期 / 经期 (zh) (jīngqī)
Czech: menstruace (cs) f
Danish: menstruation c
Dutch: menstruatie (nl), ongesteldheid (nl) f
Egyptian: (ḥzmn)
Esperanto: menstruo
Estonian: menstruatsioon
Ewe: dzinukpɔkpɔ, ɣletikpɔkpɔ
Finnish: kuukautiskierto (fi), kuukautiset (fi), menkat (fi)
French: menstruation (fr) f, règles (fr) f pl
Galician: menstruación (gl) f
Gamilaraay: malagan
Georgian: მენსტრუაცია (mensṭruacia), თვიური (tviuri)
German: Menstruation (de) f, Periode (de) f, ihre Tage haben, Regel (de) f, Regelblutung (de) f, Monatsblutung (de) f
Greek: εμμηνόρροια (el) f (emminórroia), περίοδος (el) (períodos)
Ancient: ἀφεδρεία f (aphedreía)
Greenlandic: aaqartarneq
Hebrew: וֶסֶת (he) (veset)
Hindi: रजोधर्म (hi) m (rajodharm), ऋतुस्राव m (ŕtusrāv), ऋतु (hi) m (ŕtu) (period, season), रजोस्राव m (rajosrāv), स्त्रीधर्म (hi) m (strīdharm), स्त्रीरज (hi) m (strīraj), कुसुम (hi) f (kusum), रजोदर्शन (hi) m (rajodarśan), रज (hi) m (raj), रजस्त्राव m (rajastrāv), मासिक धर्म m (māsik dharm), ऋत्व (hi) f (ŕtva), हैज (hi) m (haij), आर्तव (hi) m (ārtav), रजःस्राव m (rajaḥsrāv), पीरियड m (pīriyaḍ), मासिकधर्म (hi) m (māsikdharm)
Hungarian: menstruáció (hu)
Icelandic: blæðingar f pl, tíðir f pl
Indonesian: menstruasi (id), haid (id), datang bulan (id)
Irish: fuil mhíosta f, míostrú m
Italian: mestruazione (it) f, ciclo (it) m, avere (it) le sue cose (it) (to be on her period, literally to have her own things)
Japanese: 月経 (ja) (げっけい, gekkei), 月事 (ja) (げつじ, getsuji), 生理 (ja) (seiri)
Kazakh: етеккір (etekkır)
Khmer: ដំណើរមានរដូវ (dɑmnaə mien rɔdəv), រដូវ (rɔdəv)
Kikuyu: mweri class 3
Korean: 월경 (ko) (wolgyeong), 생리 (ko) (saengni), 그날 (ko) (geunal)
Kurdish:
Northern Kurdish: xwîndîtin (ku)
Kyrgyz: айыз (ky) (ayız)
Lao: ການມີລະດູ (kān mī la dū)
Latin: menstrua n pl
Latvian: menstruācija f
Lithuanian: mėnesinių ciklas, menstruacija f
Macedonian: менструа́ција f (menstruácija)
Malay: haid (ms)
Manchu: ᡥᠠᠯᠠᠨ (halan)
Maori: mate wahine, mate marama, waiwhero
Marathi: पाळी f (pāḷī), मासिक पाळी f (māsik pāḷī), ऋतु (mr) f (rutu) ऋत्व f (rutva) आर्तव f (ārtav) रजस् f (rajas) कन्याव्रत f (kanyāvrat)
Mongolian: биеийн юм (bijeiin jüm)
Norwegian: menstruasjon
Old East Slavic: цвѣтьно (cvětĭno)
Persian: عادت ماهانه (fa) ('âdat-e mâhâne), قاعدگی (fa) (qâ'edegi), پریود (fa) (period), حیض (fa) (heyz), دشتان (fa) (daštân)
Piedmontese: mëstruassion f
Polish: miesiączka (pl) f, menstruacja (pl) f, okres (pl) m
Portuguese: menstruação (pt) f, regras (pt) f pl
Romagnol: régul f pl
Romanian: menstruație (ro) f
Russian: менструа́ция (ru) f (menstruácija), менструа́льный цикл (ru) m (menstruálʹnyj cikl), ме́сячные (ru) pl (mésjačnyje)
Sanskrit: ऋतु (sa) m (ṛtu)
Scottish Gaelic: fuil-mhìos f
Serbo-Croatian:
Cyrillic: мјесечница f, менструација f
Roman: mjesečnica (sh) f, menstruacija (sh) f
Slovak: menštruácia (sk) f
Slovene: menstruacija (sl) f, číšča f
Spanish: menstruación (es) f, regla (es) f, achaque (es) m (disused), periodo (es) m, chinto m, menstruo (es) m, período (es) m, mes (es) m
Sundanese: ᮊᮛᮨᮞᮨᮘᮔ᮪ (kareseban)
Swahili: hedhi (sw)
Swedish: menstruation (sv) c
Tagalog: kanya, sapanahon, regla, buwanang dalaw
Tajik: ҳайз (hayz)
Telugu: ఋతుస్రావం (r̥tusrāvaṁ)
Thai: ประจำเดือน (th) (bprà-jam-dʉʉan), เมนส์ (th) (men), ระดู (th) (rá-duu)
Turkish: âdet (tr), aybaşı (tr), hayız (tr), regl (tr)
Turkmen: aýbaşy (tk)
Ukrainian: мі́сячні pl (mísjačni), менструа́ція f (menstruácija)
Urdu: حیض (hayz)
Uzbek: hayz (uz)
Vietnamese: chu kỳ kinh nguyệt, kinh nguyệt (vi)
Yiddish: מענסטרואַציע (menstruatsye), ווסתּ f (ves(e)t), ווסת f (veyses), צײַט (yi) f (tsayt) :

#### See also

* PMT
* tampon
* sanitary towel

### References

* ↑ “menstruation, n.”, in OED Online ⁠, Oxford: Oxford University Press, September 2001.

## Danish
### Pronunciation

* IPA: /mɛnsdʁuɑˈɕoˀn/, /mɛnsdʁuaˈɕoˀn/

### Noun

menstruation c (singular definite menstruationen, plural indefinite menstruationer)
* menstruation

#### Declension
### References

* “menstruation” in Den Danske Ordbog

## French
### Pronunciation

* Audio:(file)

### Noun

menstruation f (plural menstruations)
* menstruation; period
    Synonym: règles

### Further reading

* “menstruation”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.

## Swedish
### Etymology

menstruum +‎ -ation, modelled after Late Latin menstruatio. The word is cognate with French menstruation, English menstruation, Spanish menstruación.

### Noun

menstruation c
* menstruation
    Synonym: mens

#### Related terms

* menstruera

### References

* menstruation in Svensk ordbok (SO)
* menstruation in Svenska Akademiens ordlista (SAOL)
* menstruation in Svenska Akademiens ordbok (SAOB)