Dictionary

menarche en · NOUN

Pronunciation

• /məˈnɑɹ.ki/ (US)
• (US) audio
• /mɛˈnɑː.ki/ (UK)
• /ˈmɛˌnɑɹ.ki/ (US)

Etymology

First attested 1900, from German Menarche, formed from meno- + -arche.

Meanings

1. The onset of menstruation; a girl's first period.
   • How old is she? Nine? Ten? The menarche is not far off – a hint of a bosom, poor child. 1973, Patrick O'Brian, HMS Surprise:
   • The most potent and indeed dangerous of all menstrual blood was the menarche, the first day's flow of the first menstruation of a virgin girl. 1978, Benjamin Walker, Encyclopedia of Metaphysical Medicine, Routledge, page 252:
   • Initiation is imagined, but the initiate is not the young girl in menarche, about to be wed to the moon, but a young man about to become a great hunter. 1981, William Irwin Thompson, The Time Falling Bodies Take to Light: Mythology, Sexuality and the Origins of Culture, London: Rider/Hutchinson & Co., page 102:

Forms

Antonyms

menopause

Coordinates

thelarche · spermarche

Deriveds

menarchial · menarcheal · menarchal · menarchic · postmenarche · menarched

Synonyms

menophania

Translations (20)

pl pierwsza miesiączka (first menstruation) · pt menarca (first menstruation) · cmn 初經 /初经 (first menstruation) · ja 初潮 (first menstruation) · ru мена́рхе (first menstruation) · fr ménarche (first menstruation) · sv menarche (first menstruation) · cmn 初潮 (first menstruation) · is fyrstu tíðir (first menstruation) · nl menarche (first menstruation) · tl abot-tubo (first menstruation) · el εμμηναρχή (first menstruation) · tr menarş (first menstruation) · ja 初経 (first menstruation) · de Menarche (first menstruation) · fi menarke (first menstruation) · es menarquia (first menstruation) · ru пе́рвая менструа́ция (first menstruation) · it menarca (first menstruation) · eu menarkia (first menstruation)