. In DICTIOUS you will not only get to know all the dictionary meanings for the word
, but we will also tell you about its etymology, its characteristics and you will know how to say
in singular and plural. Everything you need to know about the word
you have here. The definition of the word
will help you to be more precise and correct when speaking or writing your texts. Knowing the definition of
, as well as those of other words, enriches your vocabulary and provides you with more and better linguistic resources.
English
Pronunciation
Etymology 1
Borrowing from Middle French mental , from Late Latin mentālis , from mēns ( “ mind, disposition; heart, soul ” ) + -ālis ( “ -al ” , adjectival suffix ) .
Adjective
mental (comparative more mental , superlative most mental )
( relational ) Of or relating to the mind or specifically the total emotional and intellectual response of an individual to external reality .
Of or relating to intellectual as contrasted with emotional activity.
mental acuity
Of, relating to, or being intellectual as contrasted with overt physical activity.
2013 July 19, Ian Sample , “Irregular bedtimes may affect children's brains ”, in The Guardian Weekly , volume 189 , number 6, page 34 :Irregular bedtimes may disrupt healthy brain development in young children, according to a study of intelligence and sleeping habits. ¶ Going to bed at a different time each night affected girls more than boys, but both fared worse on mental tasks than children who had a set bedtime, researchers found.
Occurring or experienced in the mind .
1907 August, Robert W Chambers , “The Unexpected”, in The Younger Set , New York, N.Y.: D. Appleton & Company , →OCLC , page 240 :I don't mean all of your friends—only a small proportion—which, however, connects your circle with that deadly, idle, brainless bunch—the insolent chatterers at the opera, [ …] , the neurotic victims of mental cirrhosis, the jewelled animals whose moral code is the code of the barnyard—!
Synonym: inner
Relating to the mind , its activity , or its products as an object of study .
mental science
Synonym: ideological
Relating to spirit or idea as opposed to matter .
Of, relating to, or affected by a psychiatric disorder .
a mental patient
( relational ) Intended for the care or treatment of persons affected by psychiatric disorders .
mental hospitals
( colloquial , UK , Ireland , Australia , New Zealand , dated in the US , Canada , comparable ) Mentally disordered ; insane , mad , crazy .
He is the most mental freshman I've seen yet.
He went mental on us.
( colloquial , UK , Ireland , Australia , New Zealand , comparable ) Enjoyable or fun , especially in a frenetic way.
That was a mental party last night.
Of or relating to telepathic or mind-reading powers.
mental telepathy
Derived terms
Translations
relating to the mind
Arabic: عَقْلِيّ (ar) ( ʕaqliyy )
Asturian: mental
Bengali: মানসিক (bn) ( manośik )
Bulgarian: умствен (bg) ( umstven ) , мисловен (bg) ( misloven )
Catalan: mental (ca)
Chinese:
Mandarin: 心理的 (zh) ( xīnlǐ de ) , 精神的 (zh) ( jīngshén de )
Czech: duševní (cs)
Dutch: geestelijk (nl) , mentaal (nl)
Esperanto: mensa (eo) , psika , psiĥa
Finnish: henkinen (fi) , mentaalinen (fi) , psyykkinen (fi) , mieli -
French: mental (fr)
Galician: mental (gl)
Georgian: გონებრივი ( gonebrivi ) , მენტალური ( menṭaluri )
German: geistig (de) , mental (de) , psychisch (de) , seelisch (de)
Greek: διανοητικός (el) m ( dianoïtikós ) , πνευματικός (el) m ( pnevmatikós ) , νοητικός (el) m ( noïtikós )
Haitian Creole: mantal
Hindi: मानसिक (hi) ( mānsik )
Hungarian: mentális (hu) , lelki (hu) , értelmi (hu) , szellemi (hu) , elmebeli (hu) , elme -
Indonesian: mental (id)
Italian: mentale (it)
Japanese: 心 の ( こころの, kokoro no ) , 精神的 (ja) ( せいしんてき, seishinteki )
Kazakh: психикалық ( psixikalyq )
Korean: 정신의 ( jeongsinui )
Occitan: mental (oc)
Polish: psychiczny (pl) , umysłowy (pl) , mentalny (pl)
Portuguese: mental (pt)
Romanian: mintal (ro) , mental (ro) m or n
Russian: у́мственный (ru) ( úmstvennyj )
Sanskrit: मानस (sa) ( mānasa )
Serbo-Croatian: duševan (sh)
Spanish: mental (es)
Swedish: själslig (sv) , psykisk (sv)
Tagalog: isipnin
Telugu: మానసికమైన ( mānasikamaina )
Turkish: mental (tr) , zihinsel (tr)
Ukrainian: розумо́вий ( rozumóvyj ) , ми́слений ( mýslenyj )
Volapük: tikälik (vo)
relating to a crazy person
Noun
mental (plural mentals )
( slang ) State of mind ; ellipsis of mental state .
y'all need to fix your mentals
Etymology 2
c. 1727 , from Latin mentum ( “ the chin ” ) + -al .
Adjective
mental (not comparable )
( anatomy , relational ) Of or relating to the chin or median part of the lower jaw , genial .
Synonyms: genial , genian
the mental nerve, the mental region
( biology , relational ) Of or relating to the chinlike or liplike structure .
Derived terms
Translations
Noun
mental (plural mentals )
( zootomy ) A plate or scale covering the mentum or chin of a fish or reptile .
References
Further reading
“mental ”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary , Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam , 1913 , →OCLC .
“mental ”, in The Century Dictionary , New York, N.Y.: The Century Co. , 1911 , →OCLC .
Anagrams
Asturian
Etymology
From Late Latin mentālis from Latin mēns ; equivalent to mente + -al .
Pronunciation
IPA (key ) : /menˈtal/ ,
Rhymes: -al
Hyphenation: men‧tal
Adjective
mental (epicene , plural mentales )
mental
Catalan
Etymology
Borrowed from Late Latin mentālis , from Latin mēns ; equivalent to ment + -al .
Pronunciation
Adjective
mental m or f (masculine and feminine plural mentals )
mental
Derived terms
Further reading
Cebuano
Etymology
Clipping of English mental hospital .
Noun
mental
mental hospital
Verb
mental
to send or commit to a mental hospital
French
Etymology
Learned borrowing from Late Latin mentālis ( “ of the mind, mental ” ) .
Pronunciation
Adjective
mental (feminine mentale , masculine plural mentaux , feminine plural mentales )
( relational ) mind ; mental
Derived terms
Descendants
Noun
mental m (uncountable )
mind
Elle a un mental d’acier. ― She has a mind of steel.
Further reading
Anagrams
Galician
Etymology
From Late Latin mentālis , from Latin mēns ; equivalent to mente + -al .
Pronunciation
Adjective
mental m or f (plural mentais )
mental
Derived terms
Further reading
“mental ” in DIGALEGO - Dicionario de Galego , Ir Indo 2004, Xunta de Galicia 2013.
“mental ”, in Dicionario da Real Academia Galega (in Galician), A Coruña: Royal Galician Academy , 2012 –2024
Antón Luís Santamarina Fernández , Ernesto Xosé González Seoane , María Álvarez de la Granja , editors (2003 –2018 ), “mental ”, in Tesouro informatizado da lingua galega (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega
German
Etymology
Borrowed from Latin mentālis .
Pronunciation
Adjective
mental (strong nominative masculine singular mentaler , not comparable )
mental
Declension
Positive forms of mental (uncomparable )
Indonesian
Etymology 1
From Dutch mentaal , from Middle French mental , from Late Latin mentālis ( “ of the mind, mental ” ) , from Latin mēns ( “ the mind ” ) .
Pronunciation
IPA (key ) :
Hyphenation: mèn‧tal
Adjective
mental
mental : of or relating to the mind or an intellectual process.
Noun
mental
mind .
Synonyms: batin , watak
Etymology 2
From Betawi mental . Doublet of pental .
Pronunciation
IPA (key ) :
Hyphenation: men‧tal
Verb
mêntal
to bounce off
Synonyms: terpelanting , terpental
to backfire
Etymology 3
From Sundanese mental .
Pronunciation
IPA (key ) :
Hyphenation: men‧tal
Adjective
mêntal
useless .
Further reading
Norwegian Bokmål
Etymology
Borrowed from Latin mentalis , from mens .
Adjective
mental (neuter singular mentalt , definite singular and plural mentale )
mental
References
Norwegian Nynorsk
Etymology
Borrowed from Latin mentalis , from mens .
Adjective
mental (neuter singular mentalt , definite singular and plural mentale )
mental
References
Polish
Pronunciation
Etymology 1
From medal .
Noun
mental m inan
( Far Masovian ) Alternative form of medal
Etymology 2
From motyl .
Noun
mental m animal
( Far Masovian ) Alternative form of motyl
Further reading
Wojciech Grzegorzewicz (1894 ) “mental ”, in Sprawozdania Komisji Językowej Akademii Umiejętności (in Polish), volume 5, Krakow: Akademia Umiejętności, page 114
Portuguese
Etymology
Borrowed from Late Latin mentālis , from Latin mēns . By surface analysis , mente + -al .
Pronunciation
Rhymes: ( Portugal ) -al , ( Brazil ) -aw
Hyphenation: men‧tal
Adjective
mental m or f (plural mentais , not comparable )
mental
Derived terms
Romanian
Adjective
mental m or n (feminine singular mentală , masculine plural mentali , feminine and neuter plural mentale )
Alternative form of mintal
Declension
Spanish
Etymology
Borrowed from Late Latin mentālis , from Latin mēns ; equivalent to mente + -al .
Pronunciation
IPA (key ) : /menˈtal/
Rhymes: -al
Syllabification: men‧tal
Adjective
mental m or f (masculine and feminine plural mentales )
mental
Derived terms
Further reading
Swedish
Etymology
Borrowed from Late Latin mentalis , from Latin mens .
Adjective
mental
mental , pertaining to the mind
Declension
Inflection of mental
Indefinite
positive
comparative
superlative1
common singular
mental
—
—
neuter singular
mentalt
—
—
plural
mentala
—
—
masculine plural2
mentale
—
—
Definite
positive
comparative
superlative
masculine singular3
mentale
—
—
all
mentala
—
—
1 The indefinite superlative forms are only used in the predicative.2 Dated or archaic.3 Only used, optionally, to refer to things whose natural gender is masculine.
Anagrams
Tagalog
Pronunciation
Etymology 1
Borrowed from English mental .
Adjective
mental (Baybayin spelling ᜋᜒᜈ᜔ᜆᜎ᜔ )
mental
Etymology 2
Ellipsis of English mental hospital .
Noun
mental (Baybayin spelling ᜋᜒᜈ᜔ᜆᜎ᜔ )
mental hospital
Synonym: manikomyo
See also
Further reading
“mental ”, in Pambansang Diksiyonaryo | Diksiyonaryo.ph , Manila, 2018