Obs. [a. Gr. κλῑμακτήρ round of a ladder, definite or critical period of a man’s life, f. κλίμαξ ladder + -τηρ suffix of agent and agency.] A CLIMACTERIC year or epoch.
1609. C. Butler, Fem. Mon. (1634), 30. The sixty-third year of man’s age … called climactericall (because it ariseth of nine Septenaries, as so many Climacters or Ladder-rounds).
1643. Sir T. Browne, Relig. Med., I. (1656), § 28. In his yeares there is no Climacter, his duration is eternity.
1656. Blount, Glossogr., Climacter, the perillous time of mans life, at every seven or nine years end.
