mentum
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See also: -mentum
English
Etymology
Learned borrowing from Latin mentum (“the chin”). Doublet of menton.
Pronunciation
Noun
mentum (plural menta)
- (anatomy) The chin.
- (malacology) A chin-like projection below the mouth of certain mollusks.
- (entomology) The central part of the labium in insects.
- (botany) A projection in front of the flower in some orchids.
Derived terms
Related terms
References
- “mentum”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.
- “mentum”, in Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster, 1996–present.
Anagrams
Latin
Etymology
From Proto-Italic *mentom, from Proto-Indo-European *men-to-, from *men- (“to project”). Cognate with Proto-Germanic *munþaz.
Pronunciation
Noun
mentum n (genitive mentī); second declension
- (literally) the chin; the chin with the hair that grows on it; the beard
- (transferred sense, architecture) the projecting part of a cornice casting off the rain, the coping
- c. 15 BCE, Vitruvius, De architectura 4.3.6:
- Reliqua spatia, quod latiores sint metopae quam triglyphi, pura relinquantur aut numina scalpantur, ad ipsumque mentum coronae incidatur linea quae scotia dicitur.
Inflection
Second-declension noun (neuter).
| Case | Singular | Plural |
|---|---|---|
| Nominative | mentum | menta |
| Genitive | mentī | mentōrum |
| Dative | mentō | mentīs |
| Accusative | mentum | menta |
| Ablative | mentō | mentīs |
| Vocative | mentum | menta |
Derived terms
Descendants
- Vulgar Latin: *mentō, *mentōnem
- → English: mentum (learned)
- → Italian: mento (learned)
- → Portuguese: mento (learned)
- Sicilian: mentu
Further reading
- “mentum”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
- “mentum”, in Charlton T. Lewis (1891) An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
- mentum in Charles du Fresne du Cange’s Glossarium Mediæ et Infimæ Latinitatis (augmented edition with additions by D. P. Carpenterius, Adelungius and others, edited by Léopold Favre, 1883–1887)
- mentum in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.
- Carl Meißner, Henry William Auden (1894) Latin Phrase-Book, London: Macmillan and Co.
- (ambiguous) to see with the mind's eye: oculis mentis videre aliquid
- (ambiguous) to be of sane mind: mentis compotem esse
- (ambiguous) to be of sound mind: sanae mentis esse
- (ambiguous) to obscure the mental vision: mentis quasi luminibus officere (vid. sect. XIII. 6) or animo caliginem offundere
- (ambiguous) innate ideas: notiones animo (menti) insitae, innatae
- (ambiguous) to lose one's composure; to be disconcerted: de statu suo or mentis deici (Att. 16. 15)
- (ambiguous) to lose one's head, be beside oneself: sui (mentis) compotem non esse
- (ambiguous) enthusiasm: ardor, inflammatio animi, incitatio mentis, mentis vis incitatior
- (ambiguous) to see with the mind's eye: oculis mentis videre aliquid