What does amenorrhoea mean?
Amenorrhoea is the medical term for the absence of menstrual periods in a woman of reproductive age. It is classified as primary when menstruation has never begun by the mid-teens, and secondary when previously established periods stop for three months or longer. Rather than a disease in itself, amenorrhoea is a symptom with many possible causes, ranging from the entirely physiological — pregnancy, breastfeeding, menopause — to hormonal disorders, significant weight loss, excessive exercise, stress, and certain medications. Clinicians therefore treat it as a signal prompting investigation of the underlying cause. The word is formal and almost exclusively clinical, appearing in medical literature, patient consultations, and health journalism. It is written 'amenorrhoea' in British English and 'amenorrhea' in American English, both deriving from Greek roots meaning 'without monthly flow'. Understanding the term is useful because absent periods are easily dismissed as trivial, yet they can indicate conditions such as polycystic ovary syndrome, thyroid dysfunction, or hypothalamic suppression that merit proper evaluation.
nounThe abnormal absence or suppression of menstruation in a woman of reproductive age, either when periods have never begun (primary) or when they have stopped for three or more months (secondary).
- The absence of menstrual periods in a woman of reproductive age, classified as primary (periods never started by age 15–16) or secondary (previously regular periods cease for three or more months).
"After several months without a period, her doctor investigated the possible causes of her amenorrhoea."
"Intense training and low body weight are well-known causes of secondary amenorrhoea in athletes."
"The consultant explained that primary amenorrhoea often warrants genetic and hormonal investigation."
Rarely pluralised; the singular is standard even when discussing multiple cases, which are usually referred to collectively as 'cases of amenorrhoea'.
"The clinic recorded several cases of amenorrhoea among distance runners that season."
Elite female athletes can lose their periods entirely — a condition once so expected it had a name, 'athletic amenorrhoea', signalling the body has shut down reproduction to conserve energy.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Etymology of amenorrhoea
Amenorrhoea comes from Greek roots: a- ('without'), men ('month'), and rhoia ('flow'), literally meaning 'absence of the monthly flow'. The term entered medical usage via Latinised scientific vocabulary, becoming established in European medicine by the early modern period as physicians systematised descriptions of menstrual disorders. It shares these Greek elements with related clinical terms such as dysmenorrhoea (painful menstruation) and menorrhagia (excessive bleeding), which together form a family of words describing disturbances of the menses.
Related word forms
How amenorrhoea is actually used
A clinical term used chiefly in medical contexts; spelled 'amenorrhoea' in British English and 'amenorrhea' in American English. It is a symptom rather than a disease itself, and pregnancy is the most common cause of its secondary form.
Easily confused with amenorrhoea
Amenorrhea is simply the American spelling of the same word; amenorrhoea is the British spelling with the -oe- digraph.
Dysmenorrhoea means painful menstruation, whereas amenorrhoea means the absence of menstruation altogether.