What did people of the middle ages call their periods?
score:9
Here is a fairly comprehensive answer for English only, using three dictionaries (DOE, MED, & OED.) I sorted them by date of earliest attestation as best I can. Many of these are medical terms.
"Clænsunge Tid" ("Cleansing Tide", where tide = time):
ono þas wiif, þa ðe heora bearn of unrihtum gewunum oðrum to fedenne sellað, nemne seo clæsnunge tiid forðgeleore, ne sceolon heo heora werum gemengde beon. þa þe þonne in gewunan monaðaðle numene beoð ... heo wæron bewered heora weorum gemengde beon
The Old English Version of Bede's Ecclesiastical History of the English People, c731
"Monaðaðle (Gewunan)": see above.
"Gecynd":
þu scealt simle þam wife bæþ wyrcean & drenc sellan on þa ilcan tid þe hire sio gecynd æt wære.
Bald's Leechbook, 9th century
"Menstrual Flux"/"Bloody Flux" (the latter is also used for...other conditions):
[Acorns] stauncheþ and stynteþ menstrual flux and rennyng [L fluxum menstrualem].
De Proprietatibus Rerum, c1398
"Menstruum":
Þe..superfluyte hatte menstruum, for it folweþ in þe cours of þe moneþ.
De Proprietatibus Rerum, c1398
"Passion Menstrual":
No man hath þe passioun menstrual as wommen haueþ.
De Proprietatibus Rerum, c1398
"Menstrual Superfluity"/"Superfluity of the Mother":
Bodies of mules ben grete and huge for menstrual superfluyte passeth in to norisshynge and fedynge of þe body.
De Proprietatibus Rerum, c1398
"Purgation":
And vertu þerof [sc. the lily] tempreþ and naissheþ hard matiere; þerfore it bryngeþ out menstrual purgacioun.
De Proprietatibus Rerum, c1398
"White Blood":
In þe blood þat hatte sanguis menstrualis, the white blood in women.
De Proprietatibus Rerum, c1398
"Blood of Women":
Emachites..stauncheþ..alle blood and namely þe blood of wommen.
De Proprietatibus Rerum, c1398
"Menstrue(s)":
[A womman] in tyme of menstrue [v.r. menstrewe].
Science of cirurgie, a1400
"Flowers"/"Time of Flowers" (later on, also "fluors"):
A woman schal in the harme blede
For stoppyng of hure flowrys at nede.
Reliquiae antiquae, c1400
"Hour of Privity":
These thynges letten fro dwe of wedloke to be askede..when the wyfe is..in the houre of hire priuyte [L hora menstrui].
Speculum Christiani, c1450
"Terms":
Make a suppository þeroff, and it shall make a woman to haue hyre termes.
A leechbook, or collection of medical recipes of the fifteenth century, c1450
"Menison" (usually refers to... other things):
The Menyson: Menstrua, i. muliebrina..fluxus, sanguinis mulierum.
Catholicon Anglicum, ?c1475
"Menstruosity":
Yt ys mych proffytabyl to wemen for to caus theyr menstrwosyte [Fr. menstrues]..to dyscend.
The kalendayr of the shyppars, 1503
"Custom of Women":
My lord, be not angry that I can not rise vp before thee: for the custome of women is vpon me.
Geneva Bible, 1560
"Time(s)":
Certaine people maie not bleede: as women whiche haue their times aboundauntlie.
A dialogue both pleasant and piety-full, against the fever pestilence, 1564
"The Reds":
Cummine seedes..dothe staye the muche bleading at the nose, and womens excesse of the reedes.
Proffitable Arte Gardening, 1568
"Months":
The wilde Basill..stoppeth..the inordinate course of the Moneths.
Niewe Herball, 1578
"Courses":
Beware that they which haue their monethly courses, doe not then..come neare.
Arte Gardening, 1593
"Menses":
The seede of Darnell giuen in white or rhenish wine, prouoketh the flowers or menses.
The herball, 1597
"Menstruals":
We apply the boxes to suscitate the menstrualles of women.
The Frenche chirurgerye, 1598
"Nature":
The true signe of conception is, when their nature (that is) the fluent humour, out of their secrets ceaseth for a month, or two, or three.
The historie of foure-footed beastes, 1607
More post
- 📝 Did English/British merchant sailors receive written testimonials between 1500 and 1750?
- 📝 Was Mary Stuart's execution not accompanied by attainder?
- 📝 Why was the German Jewish population declining so much that some statisticians predicted its disappearance even before the 3rd Reich?
- 📝 Wanderwort origins and the Indus Valley Civilization?
- 📝 Why did the Spanish government award a decoration to Chiang Kai-Shek?
- 📝 How did the Czech Legion get home?
- 📝 What is the historical significance of the Tryzub to Ukrainian diaspora?
- 📝 How did the world react to Trotsky's assassination?
- 📝 Is there historical evidence on what might have been a maximum hair length for males in 1st century Judea?
- 📝 Did anyone in England in the 1680's wear a beard?
- 📝 Was COMECON involved in economic imperialism and if so, to what extent?
- 📝 Napoleon's exploits in 1785
- 📝 Why would staff officers carry swords during combat, in World War II?
- 📝 First recorded use of a traditional tombstone?
- 📝 What was the technology in pre-war traffic recorders?
- 📝 Life expectancy of monarchs and its relation to stability/peace
- 📝 Were there communes in Imperial Germany?
- 📝 How did ancient armies keep the route of supplies to their battlefield?
- 📝 Battle of Seattle
- 📝 Did the Confederate States use a plain oval CS buckle during the Civil War?
- 📝 What Were the Primary Causes of 15th to 19th Century British Chartered Companies' Failures?
- 📝 How were the British and French Mandates in the Levantine area involved in WWII?
- 📝 How prestigious was the medical profession given the inefficacy of most treatments?
- 📝 How did member states of the Holy Roman Empire justify only including part of their land inside it?
- 📝 Which submarine was invented first?
- 📝 Was the Roman Empire based on a 'plunder economy'?
- 📝 Did Napoleon Hill really have a friendship with Andrew Carnegie?
- 📝 How many died during St. Lawrence Island 1878-1880 famine?
- 📝 Private firms (aka mercenaries) as a police force
- 📝 Why was the War of the League of Cambrai such a hot mess?
Source: stackoverflow.com
Search Posts
Related post
- 📝 What did the people of the Middle Ages call their period?
- 📝 What did people of the middle ages call their periods?
- 📝 What did men wear at night in the Middle Ages in Europe?
- 📝 What did the Romans call black people (sub-Saharan)?
- 📝 Do we have any idea what people in the Middle Ages (or before them) thought the far future was going to be like?
- 📝 What did the term "Parage" mean in middle ages Langued'oc?
- 📝 What did the Greeks call their gods while under Roman rule?
- 📝 What is the difference between the Middle Ages and the Dark Ages?
- 📝 What did squires do in the middle of a medieval battle?
- 📝 What names did the ancient Egyptians give to different stages of their history?
- 📝 What numerals did the people of Ireland use before Roman Numerals? (aka, did Ogham include numbers?)
- 📝 If salt was scarce and expensive, how did people "salt the earth" to ensure their enemies would stay defeated?
- 📝 After the fall of the Roman Empire, where did their armor go? Was it used by any dark ages forces?
- 📝 What should I call bands of armed men in the Middle Ages?
- 📝 In what ways did the rise of a true middle class in Europe during the late 19th century become apparent?
- 📝 What did European people of the 5th century AD eat during spring and what was the availability?
- 📝 What did contemporary countries in Europe call the Ottoman Empire?
- 📝 Did people practice multiphasic sleep in the Middle Ages?
- 📝 What was the program of the Mensheviks in their later years? How did they hope to achieve it?
- 📝 What races did Americans classify people into during the 1800s?
- 📝 Why did people die for their religion in the 400s CE (or even now)?
- 📝 How did people cut their nails in the past?
- 📝 What laws did the king "refuse to pass... unless those people would relinquish the right of representation"?
- 📝 What would slaves in the Roman Empire call their masters?
- 📝 What kind of ID Number, if any, did the Soviets institute for all their citizens?
- 📝 What was the first instance of native Americans using gunpowder weapons in battle and did they ever make their own powder?
- 📝 What were the traveling practices of merchants, roughly between the Middle Ages and the Renaissance?
- 📝 What did they call Gothic and Baroque architecture before the modern terms came into use?
- 📝 Before the imposition of Sakoku, did any Japanese people travel to Africa, the Middle East or Europe?
- 📝 What did the Scott expedition feed their ponies?