Menstruum

2 definitions found

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  Menstruum \Men"stru*um\, n.; pl. E. {Menstruums}, L. {Menstrua}.
     [L. menstruus. See {Menstruous}.]
     Any substance which dissolves a solid body; a solvent.
     [1913 Webster]
  
           The proper menstruum to dissolve metal.  --Bacon.


     [1913 Webster]
  
           All liquors are called menstruums which are used as
           dissolvents, or to extract the virtues of ingredients
           by infusion or decoction.                --Quincy.
     [1913 Webster]
  
     Note: 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.
           [1913 Webster]

From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:

  menstruum
       n 1: (archaic) a solvent
       2: 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"--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 [syn: {menstruation},
           {menses}, {catamenia}, {period}, {flow}]
       [also: {menstrua} (pl)]