mentality

Etymology

It was formed in English from mental and the noun suffix -ity.^[2][3][4][5] In the sense "way of thinking" the OED compares mentalité, which had it earlier.^[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

That which is of the nature of mind; mental action or process: 1691, in Richard Baxter's Reply to Mister Beverley's Answer,^[2][6][3] a sense the OED now calls rare.^[2][7]

Semantic evolution

In the 19th century the word took on the sense of mental ability or intellectual capacity: the OED's first quotation is from Emerson's English Traits (1856).^[2][3][4] The main modern sense, the characteristic attitude of mind or way of thinking of a person or group, is recorded from 1895,^[2][3] and is often used with a modifying word,^[2] as in siege mentality, herd mentality or victim mentality.^[7]

Timeline

• 1691 – mental action or process.^[2][6]
• 1856 – mental ability, intellectuality.^[2]
• 1895 – a characteristic way of thinking.^[2][3]

Modern meaning

Noun

1. A characteristic attitude of mind or way of thinking of a person or group: The team developed a siege mentality after weeks of criticism.
2. Mental ability or capacity; intelligence.

Word family

• siege mentality

Related words

• mental
• mind
• mentalism

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c d e Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
4. ^ a b Stevenson, Angus, ed. (2010), Oxford Dictionary of English, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
5. ^ Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
6. ^ a b Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
7. ^ a b Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press