mental

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See also: mentál

English

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /ˈmɛn.təl/
  • IPA(key): ,
  • Audio (US):(file)
  • Rhymes: -ɛntəl

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)

  1. (relational) Of or relating to the mind or specifically the total emotional and intellectual response of an individual to external reality.
    1. Of or relating to intellectual as contrasted with emotional activity.
      mental acuity
    2. 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.
    3. 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
    4. Relating to the mind, its activity, or its products as an object of study.
      mental science
      Synonym: ideological
    5. Relating to spirit or idea as opposed to matter.
      • the distinction between physical things and mental ideas
  2. Of, relating to, or affected by a psychiatric disorder.
    a mental patient
    1. (relational) Intended for the care or treatment of persons affected by psychiatric disorders.
      mental hospitals
    2. (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.
  3. (colloquial, UK, Ireland, Australia, New Zealand, comparable) Enjoyable or fun, especially in a frenetic way.
    That was a mental party last night.
  4. Of or relating to telepathic or mind-reading powers.
    mental telepathy
Derived terms
Translations

Noun

mental (plural mentals)

  1. (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)

  1. (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
  2. (biology, relational) Of or relating to the chinlike or liplike structure.
Derived terms
Translations

Noun

mental (plural mentals)

  1. (zootomy) A plate or scale covering the mentum or chin of a fish or reptile.

References

Further reading

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)

  1. 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)

  1. mental

Derived terms

Further reading

Cebuano

Etymology

Clipping of English mental hospital.

Noun

mental

  1. mental hospital

Verb

mental

  1. 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)

  1. (relational) mind; mental

Derived terms

Descendants

  • Haitian Creole: mantal
  • Turkish: mantal

Noun

mental m (uncountable)

  1. 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

  • IPA(key): /menˈtal/
  • IPA(key): /mɛnˈtal/
  • Rhymes: -al
  • Hyphenation: men‧tal

Adjective

mental m or f (plural mentais)

  1. mental

Derived terms

Further reading

German

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin mentālis.

Pronunciation

Adjective

mental (strong nominative masculine singular mentaler, not comparable)

  1. mental

Declension

Indonesian

Indonesian Wikipedia has an article on:
Wikipedia id

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

  1. mental: of or relating to the mind or an intellectual process.

Noun

mental

  1. mind.
    Synonyms: batin, watak

Etymology 2

From Betawi mental. Doublet of pental.

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key):
  • Hyphenation: men‧tal

Verb

mêntal

  1. to bounce off
    Synonyms: terpelanting, terpental
  2. to backfire

Etymology 3

From Sundanese mental.

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key):
  • Hyphenation: men‧tal

Adjective

mêntal

  1. useless.

Further reading

Norwegian Bokmål

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin mentalis, from mens.

Adjective

mental (neuter singular mentalt, definite singular and plural mentale)

  1. mental

References

Norwegian Nynorsk

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin mentalis, from mens.

Adjective

mental (neuter singular mentalt, definite singular and plural mentale)

  1. mental

References

Polish

Pronunciation

Etymology 1

From medal.

Noun

mental m inan

  1. (Far Masovian) Alternative form of medal

Etymology 2

From motyl.

Noun

mental m animal

  1. (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)

  1. mental

Derived terms

Romanian

Adjective

mental m or n (feminine singular mentală, masculine plural mentali, feminine and neuter plural mentale)

  1. Alternative form of mintal

Declension

singular plural
masculine neuter feminine masculine neuter feminine
nominative-
accusative
indefinite mental mentală mentali mentale
definite mentalul mentala mentalii mentalele
genitive-
dative
indefinite mental mentale mentali mentale
definite mentalului mentalei mentalilor mentalelor

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)

  1. mental

Derived terms

Further reading

Swedish

Etymology

Borrowed from Late Latin mentalis, from Latin mens.

Adjective

mental

  1. 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)

  1. mental

Etymology 2

Ellipsis of English mental hospital.

Noun

mental (Baybayin spelling ᜋᜒᜈ᜔ᜆᜎ᜔)

  1. mental hospital
    Synonym: manikomyo
See also

Further reading

  • mental”, in Pambansang Diksiyonaryo | Diksiyonaryo.ph, Manila, 2018