Edit page | Page history | Printable version

menses

(Science: medicine) The catamenial or menstrual discharge, a periodic flow of blood or bloody fluid from the uterus or female generative organs.

Origin: L. Mensis month, pl. Menses months, and the monthly courses of women. Cf. Month. 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.