ment

Forms

ment f (plural ments)^[1]

Etymology

In Coromines's view it is borrowed from Latin mēns (“mind”), a word of philosophy and high doctrine that outside Llull appears in the Middle Ages only in set phrases and adverbial locutions.^[2] Bruguera and the GDLC also derive it from the Latin word.^[3][4] Wiktionary, the DCVB and the REW treat it instead as an inherited word, Wiktionary through Old Catalan ment.^[1][5][6]

Spanish has a similar pair: the learned Spanish mente, recorded from 1444, and the inherited Old Spanish miente, used until the Golden Age.^[7]

Coromines explains that the Latin ablative ⟨mente⟩ with an adjective, which already tended to become fixed in colloquial Latin of the classical period, created the Romance adverbs in -ment.^[2] Old Catalan also used it with a preposition, in locutions such as ⟨de bona ment⟩ “willingly”, which Turmeda still writes.^[2]

The Latin noun continues Proto-Italic *mn̥ti- and Proto-Indo-European *mn-ti- (“thought, mind”), also the source of Sanskrit मति (matí, “thought”) and Lithuanian mintìs (“thought, idea”).^[8][1]

Earliest recorded meaning

Faraudo's oldest quotation is in the Llibre de saviesa attributed to Jaume I, where a sage says that a man does not die who leaves a good name and words of wisdom for people to keep in mind (per que hom les haja en ment).^[9] In Llull the noun means the power of the intellect: great joy or great fear so disturbs a man's understanding that he cannot keep his wits about anything he does or says.^[10][2]

Semantic evolution

Medieval prose uses the word mostly in verbal phrases: haver en ment and tenir a ment “to keep in mind”, as in Muntaner's chronicle, and pendre's a ment “to take note of”, as in Bernat Metge's Valter e Griselda of 1381.^[9] As an independent noun it always belonged to philosophical or poetic style;^[2] Carles Ros glosses it in 1736 with Spanish la mente.^[2]

Parar ment “to pay attention” seems to be modern: Coromines finds parar ments in Valencia in 1521, then in Torra's and Bellvitges's dictionaries, and considers it popular only in the north-east of Catalonia.^[2] Fabra's dictionary of 1932 defines the word as the intellectual power of the soul; the DIEC2 adds the sense of the psychic functions as a whole.^[11][12]

Mental appears in Llull and has always been far more usual than ment;^[2][3] mentalitat is recorded in 1917.^[2][3] Esment “attention, care”, from the early 14th century, probably comes from phrases such as pendre esment, haver esment, and esmentar “to mention” from the mid-15th century.^[2]

Timeline

• 13th century – haver en ment in the Llibre de saviesa attributed to Jaume I.^[9]
• 13th century – Llull uses ment for the power of the intellect.^[2][10]
• 1325 – Muntaner's chronicle: the king tench be a ment the knight who had cut his rein.^[9]
• 1381 – Bernat Metge, pendre's a ment.^[9]
• 1521 – parar ments in Valencia.^[2]
• 1736 – Carles Ros records ment.^[2]
• 1932 – Fabra's Diccionari general heads the word.^[11]

Meanings

Noun

1. The mind: the intellectual faculties as a whole: Té la ment clara fins i tot de vell.^[12][4][1]
2. The psychic functions as a whole; the psyche.^[12][4]
3. (in phrases) Mind as memory or attention: tenir a ment “to keep in mind”, parar ment “to pay attention”.^[9][2]

Word family

• mental
• mentalment
• mentalitat
• esment
• esmentar
• desesment

Related words

• dement
• demència
• menció
• mentir
• comentar
• Latin mēns
• Spanish mente

Usage notes

Coromines considers it wrong to print adverbs such as granment or covinentment as two words, as some editors of medieval texts and the DCVB do by copying the manuscripts.^[2]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o Coromines, Joan (1980–2001), Diccionari etimològic i complementari de la llengua catalana, 10 vols., Barcelona: Curial / La Caixa (online ed., Institut d'Estudis Catalans 2024), p. 5, 582
3. ^ a b c Bruguera, Jordi (1996), Diccionari etimològic, Barcelona: Enciclopèdia Catalana, p. 584
4. ^ a b c Enciclopèdia Catalana, Gran diccionari de la llengua catalana (GDLC), Barcelona: Enciclopèdia Catalana; online edition, https://www.diccionari.cat, p. s.v. ment
5. ^ Alcover, Antoni M.; Moll, Francesc de B. (1930–1962), Diccionari català-valencià-balear, 10 vols., Palma de Mallorca: Moll, p. s.v. ment
6. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
7. ^ Corominas, Joan (1973), Breve diccionario etimológico de la lengua castellana, 3rd ed., Madrid: Gredos, p. s.v. mente
8. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
9. ^ a b c d e f Faraudo de Saint-Germain, Lluís, Vocabulari de la llengua catalana medieval, online edition, Barcelona: Institut d'Estudis Catalans, p. s.v. ment
10. ^ a b Nou glossari general lul·lià (NGGL), Centre de Documentació Ramon Llull, Universitat de Barcelona, https://nggl.ub.edu, p. s.v. ment
11. ^ a b Fabra, Pompeu (1932), Diccionari general de la llengua catalana, Barcelona: Llibreria Catalònia, p. s.v. ment
12. ^ a b c Institut d'Estudis Catalans (2007), Diccionari de la llengua catalana, 2nd ed. (DIEC2), Barcelona: Edicions 62; online edition with later updates, https://dlc.iec.cat, p. s.v. ment