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dementio

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Etymology and origin of the Latin word dementio

Confidence
Established
Formation
Derivation
First attested
96–55 BC, Lucretius
Ultimate origin
Latin dēmēns
Etymology tree
inherited borrowed derived
Latin demens
Latin dementio

Forms

dēmentiō (present infinitive dēmentīre); fourth conjugation, intransitive[1][2]

Etymology

It is from Latin dēmēns (“out of one's mind”) + -iō.[1][3][4]

Earliest recorded meaning

The TLL dates it from Lucretius, who says of the mind in sickness dēmentit dēlīraque fātur, “it goes mad and speaks wildly”.[3][2][1]

Semantic evolution

It is a rare word, used before and after the classical period.[2] Apuleius uses it in his Apology of a woman said to have lost her reason, and Tertullian argues that when a man goes mad, his soul goes mad.[3][2] Lactantius uses it of a man driven mad by a demon and of a mind maddened by drink,[3][2] and Martianus Capella has it too.[3][5]

Timeline

  • 96–55 BC – Lucretius uses it of the mind in sickness.[3][1][6]
  • c. 125–175 AD – Apuleius uses it twice in his Apology.[3][6]
  • c. 160–220 AD – Tertullian uses it.[3][6]
  • c. 250–317 AD – Lactantius uses it of madness caused by a demon.[3][2][6]
  • 5th century AD – Martianus Capella uses it.[3][6]

Meanings

Verb

  1. To be out of one's mind, to rave; to become deranged, lose one's reason.[1][2][3]

Usage notes

A medieval noun dēmentiō “madness” (genitive dēmentiōnis) appears in Hugeburc's life of Wynnebald, about 778.[7][6]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  2. ^ a b c d e f g Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
  4. ^ Bianchi, Rossella; Lelli, Olga (2014), VOLI: Vocabolario di latino, Florence: Le Monnier
  5. ^ Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
  6. ^ a b c d e f Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  7. ^ Mittellateinisches Wörterbuch bis zum ausgehenden 13. Jahrhundert (1967–), Munich: C. H. Beck; Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
Cite this entry

“Dementio.” Etymologically, 23 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/la/dementio. Accessed 23 Oct. 2026.

Last edited on . ·