Word of the Day

: September 25, 2011

climacteric

noun kly-MAK-tuh-rik

What It Means

1 : a major turning point or critical stage

2 a : menopause

b : a period in the life of a male corresponding to female menopause

3 : the marked and sudden rise in the respiratory rate of fruit just prior to full ripening

climacteric in Context

Many historians have attempted to pinpoint the Roman Empire's climacteric, that precise moment when it began its long downhill slide.

"Orwell was dying, and Waugh was experiencing a climacteric, a shift from comic fiction to more serious considerations of loss and faith." -- From an essay by John Howard Wilson in Papers on Language & Literature, January 1, 2011

Did You Know?

"Climacteric" comes from the Greek word "klimaktēr," meaning "critical point" or, literally, "rung of a ladder." English speakers have long used "climacteric" for those inevitable big moments encountered on the metaphorical ladder of life. The major climacterics in a person’s life were once thought to happen in years denoted by multiples of 7 or 9 or only in the odd multiples of 7 (7, 21, 35, etc.). The grand (or great) climacteric was held to occur in the 63rd (7 x 9) or the 81st (9 x 9) year of life. Today, "climacteric" can refer to male or female menopause, which typically occurs between the ages of 45 and 55, but the general "turning point" sense is not usually tied to a specific age.