menopause

Name: menopause, English Word Data
Creator: Wiktionary
License: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/

/ˈmɛnəpɔːz/

//ˈmɛnəpɔːz// noun

By PlainSpell · According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA) · analyzed May 6, 2026

The verdict

“menopause” has 12 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #23,597. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#23,597
frequency rank, English: 36,575
“M” headwords: 12
tracked misspellings: 1
confusable pair

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - The period in a woman's life when menstruation becomes irregular and less frequent before eventually stopping altogether, usually accompanied by a range of unpleasant symptoms; the period spanning ...

Visual similarity to commonly confused words

How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).

menopause vs menopausal

80% similar

Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).

Key facts for menopause
Property	Value
Headword	menopause
Language	English
Part of speech	Noun
IPA	/ˈmɛnəpɔːz/
Letters	9
Frequency rank	#23,597
Misspellings tracked	12
Confusable pairs	1
Source	Wiktionary (kaikki.org)

Where “menopause” sits in English frequency

Every-word frequency runs from the handful of words we use constantly (left) to the long tail used once in a blue moon (right). menopause lands here:

#23,597

#1#100#1K#10K#100K

← used constantlyrarely used →

Scale is logarithmic (each tick is 10× rarer). Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 12 spelling variants around menopause (IPA /ˈmɛnəpɔːz/), anoun. Corpus frequency is #23,597 among 36,575 “M” headwords. Wiktionary lists 2 senses, so context still picks the gloss.

Our generated misspelling index lists 12 likely wrong-spelling variants for menopause, with forms such as "emnopause", "mennopause", and "menoapuse". Every one of these variants traces to a single-character edit -- an added or dropped letter, a swapped consonant, or a vowel swap -- the kind of slip a spell-checker is built to catch. It also participates in 1 confusable-pair relationship, "menopausal", since the words sound or look close enough that writers reach for the wrong one mid-sentence.

Etymologically, the entry records: From French ménopause, from Latin menopausis, from Ancient Greek μήν (mḗn, “month”) + παῦσις (paûsis, “pause”). Equivalent to meno- + -pause. The correct English form is menopause, spelled M-E-N-O-P-A-U-S-E.

Definition

1
The period in a woman's life when menstruation becomes irregular and less frequent before eventually stopping altogether, usually accompanied by a range of unpleasant symptoms; the period spanning perimenopause up to postmenopause.
2
The final menstrual period of a woman after which ovulation no longer occurs.

Etymology

From French ménopause, from Latin menopausis, from Ancient Greek μήν (mḗn, “month”) + παῦσις (paûsis, “pause”). Equivalent to meno- + -pause.

Synonyms

estropausefemopause

Antonyms

menarche

This word in other languages

menopausia(Español)ménopause(Français)Menopause(Deutsch)menopausa(Português)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as: emnopause,mennopause,menoapuse,menopasue,menopaues,menopausse,menoppause,menopuase,menpoause,meonpause,mmenopause,mneopause

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of menopause - counted as single-character edits (an insertion, a deletion, or a substituted letter). The larger the bar, the easier the typo is to spot; one-edit slips are the ones that sneak past readers.

Edit distance from "menopause"

Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 English corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "menopause"?

"menopause" is spelled M-E-N-O-P-A-U-S-E. The IPA pronunciation is /ˈmɛnəpɔːz/.

What does "menopause" mean?

As a noun, "menopause" means: The period in a woman's life when menstruation becomes irregular and less frequent before eventually stopping altogether, usually accompanied by a range of unpleasant symptoms; the period spanning ...

What words are commonly confused with "menopause"?

"menopause" is commonly confused with "menopausal". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.

How do you pronounce "menopause"?

The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "menopause" is /ˈmɛnəpɔːz/. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.

What is the origin of the word "menopause"?

From French ménopause, from Latin menopausis, from Ancient Greek μήν (mḗn, “month”) + παῦσις (paûsis, “pause”). Equivalent to meno- + -pause. See the full etymology section above for more details.

Is PlainSpell free to use?

Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Using “menopause”

The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.

The one correct English spelling is M-E-N-O-P-A-U-S-E - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
Say it as /ˈmɛnəpɔːz/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
Don't mix it up with “menopausal” - see the side-by-side comparison. menopause vs menopausal
Browse more English words and confusable pairs in the same reference. English words

Same frequency band

Data Source

Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Word ordering uses an open word-frequency list; misspelling variants are generated by edit-distance from the correct headword.