menstruum Meaning, Definition & Usage

noun (archaic) a solvent
noun the monthly discharge of blood from the uterus of nonpregnant women from puberty to menopause
menstruation; flow; period; menses; catamenia.
- the women were sickly and subject to excessive menstruation
- a woman does not take the gout unless her menses be stopped"--Hippocrates
- the semen begins to appear in males and to be emitted at the same time of life that the catamenia begin to flow in females"--Aristotle

L. menstruus. See Menstruous.

plural E Menstruums L Menstrua

Any substance which dissolves a solid body; a solvent.
The proper menstruum to dissolve metal. Bacon.

All liquors are called menstruums which are used as dissolvents, or to extract the virtues of ingredients by infusion or decoction. Quincy.
✍ The use is supposed to have originated in some notion of the old chemists about the influence of the moon in the preparation of dissolvents. Johnson.