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mental

Etymology and origin of the English word mental

History Permalink
Confidence
Established
Formation
Borrowing
First attested
c. 1422
Borrowed from
Middle French mental
Ultimate origin
Proto-Indo-European (*men-)

Pronunciation

  • IPA: UK /ˈmen.tᵊl/, US /ˈmen.t̬ᵊl/[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Middle French mental,[2][3] from Late Latin mentālis (“of the mind”),[4][2] from Latin mēns (“mind”), genitive mentis,[4][2] from Proto-Indo-European *men- (“to think”),[4] the root of mind.[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

Of or pertaining to the mind: about 1422 in Barnhart[2] and about 1425 in the OED.[5] In Middle English it also meant “of the soul, spiritual”.[4]

Semantic evolution

“Done or performed in the mind”, as in mental arithmetic, is from 1526.[5][4] Mental illness is recorded by 1819, mental patient 1859 and mental hospital 1891;[4] the colloquial sense “mad, deranged”, by 1927, probably grew out of such phrases,[4][5] as in go mental.[5] Mental age is from 1912.[2] Mentality, “mental capacity”, is from 1691, and “outlook, mindset” from 1895.[2]

Timeline

  • c. 1422 – of the mind.[2]
  • 1526 – done in the mind.[5]
  • 1691 – mentality.[2]
  • 1819 – mental illness.[4]
  • 1891 – mental hospital.[4]
  • 1912 – mental age.[2]
  • 1927 – crazy (colloquial).[4][5]

Modern meaning

Adjective

  1. Of or relating to the mind; intellectual.
  2. Done or existing in the mind: mental arithmetic.
  3. Of or affected by a disorder of the mind; for its treatment.
  4. (informal) Mad, crazy.

Word family

  • mentally
  • mentality
  • mentalist
  • mentalism
  • nonmental
  • submental
  • mental age
  • mental hospital

Usage notes

A separate adjective mental, “of the chin”, from Latin mentum “chin”, is used in anatomy from 1727.[6][3][5]

References

  1. ^ Jones, Daniel (2011), Cambridge English Pronouncing Dictionary, 18th ed., ed. Peter Roach, Jane Setter and John Esling, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
  3. ^ a b Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  5. ^ a b c d e f g Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
  6. ^ Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press

Related etymologies

Cite this entry

“Mental.” Etymologically, 15 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/en/mental. Accessed 15 Oct. 2026.

Last edited on . ·