Definition of: climacteric

(klī·mak′tər·ik, klī′mak·ter′ik) noun
1. A critical year or period, or one of marked change, as in human life.
2. The menopause.
—grand climacteric One's sixty–third year.
—adjective
1. Of or pertaining to a climax; climactic.
2. Pertaining to or designating a critical year or period; marking, or marked by, a crisis. Also cli·mac·ter·i·cal (klī′mak·ter′i·kəl). [<L climactericus <Gk. klimakterikos <klimaktēr rung of a ladder]