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mensa

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Etymology and origin of the Latin word mensa

Confidence
Probable
Formation
Derivation
First attested
c. 235–200 BC, Naevius
Ultimate origin
Proto-Indo-European (*meh₁-)

Pronunciation

  • Classical: [ˈmẽː.sa][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [ˈmɛn.sa][1]

Forms

mēnsa f (genitive mēnsae); first declension[1]

Etymology

It is probably the feminine of mēnsus (“measured”), the past participle of mētior (“to measure”), used as a noun.[2][3][4][1] The participle was formed after ⟨pēnsus⟩ “weighed”, and the verb goes back to a noun Proto-Italic *mēti-, from Proto-Indo-European *meh₁-ti- (“measurement”).[2] Umbrian mefa, a sacrificial object, perhaps a flat cake, may be the same word, and some think the first meaning was “a flat loaf on which offerings are placed”.[2][3][4]

Earliest recorded meaning

De Vaan dates it from Naevius,[2] who has sacra in mēnsā Penātium ōrdine pōnuntur, “the sacred things are set out in order on the table of the Penates”.[3]

Semantic evolution

Mēnsa is a table of any kind (Cato lists tables in the equipment of an olive farm), and specially a table for sacred vessels and offerings to the gods or the dead.[3][5][1] Most often it is the dining table, brought in already laid (Plautus: puerī, mēnsam appōnite, “boys, set the table”), and so a course or dish, with mēnsa secunda “dessert”, the table as a sign of hospitality (Ennius), the company at table, and a meal or feast.[3][1] The mēnsa or mēnsa nummulāria is a banker's or money-changer's counter (Plautus: omnēs mēnsās trānsiit, “he went round all the banks”), and Vitruvius uses it of a platform in a ballista.[3][5]

Church Latin glosses it “upper surface of an altar, altar table; banquet; bank; table”.[6] In Medieval Latin mēnsa canonicōrum is the common table of the canons of a church.[7] English uses mensa for the top slab of an altar from 1848.[8]

Timeline

  • c. 235–200 BC – Naevius: sacra in mēnsā Penātium.[3][9]
  • c. 250–184 BC – Plautus: mēnsam appōnite;[3][9] omnēs mēnsās trānsiit.[3][9]
  • 204–169 BC – Ennius uses it of a hospitable table.[3][9]
  • 234–149 BC – Cato lists tables among farm equipment.[3][9]
  • 1848 – English mensa, an altar top.[8]

Meanings

Noun

  1. A table.[3][5][1][6]
  2. An altar, a table for offerings.[3][1][6]
  3. A dining table; a course, dish;[3][1] mēnsa secunda: dessert.[3]
  4. Hospitality; the company at table.[3]
  5. A meal, feast.[3][1][6]
  6. A banker's or money-changer's counter, a bank.[3][5][6]
  7. A platform (in a ballista).[3]
  8. (Medieval Latin) mēnsa canonicōrum: the common table of a church's canons.[7]

Word family

  • mēnsālis
  • mēnsārius
  • mēnsula

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  4. ^ a b Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
  5. ^ a b c d Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  6. ^ a b c d e Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
  7. ^ a b Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill
  8. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  9. ^ a b c d e Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
Cite this entry

“Mensa.” Etymologically, 18 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/la/mensa. Accessed 19 Oct. 2026.

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