mentalis

Forms

mentālis (neuter mentāle); third-declension two-termination adjective^[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin mēns (“mind”) + -ālis.^[2][1][3]

Earliest recorded meaning

Augustine knew the word but avoided it: in his commentary on Genesis he says that calling the third kind of vision mentale, from mens, would be absurd because the word was so new.^[2][4]

Semantic evolution

It came into use in Late Latin theology:^[2][5] the councils speak of the soul Christ assumed as an anima mentalis, a rational soul, Ps.-Vigilius of Thapsus of reasoning about the Trinity, and a sermon attributed to Augustine of mentales oculi, the eyes of the mind.^[2][5]

In medieval Latin it meant of the soul or of the mind,^[6][7] often set against what is bodily, and conceived in the mind: a verbum mentale was an inward word, and oratio mentalis silent prayer as opposed to prayer said aloud.^[8] English mental came from it in the early 15th century.^[3]

Timeline

• 354–430 AD – Augustine calls the word too new to use.^[2][4]
• 2nd half of the 5th century AD – Ps.-Vigilius of Thapsus, of reasoning formed in the mind.^[2][4]
• early 15th century – English mental.^[3]

Meanings

Adjective

1. Endowed with mind or reason, rational.^[2]
2. Of the mind or soul, mental, inward, as opposed to bodily.^[5][6][8][7]
3. Conceived or performed in the mind;^[2][8] oratio mentalis, silent prayer.^[2][8]

Related words

• English mental

Usage notes

New Latin anatomy has a separate mentālis “of the chin”, formed from mentum “chin”.^[1]

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
3. ^ a b c Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
4. ^ a b c Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
5. ^ a b c Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
6. ^ a b Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill
7. ^ a b Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
8. ^ a b c d Latham, R. E., D. R. Howlett, R. K. Ashdowne, et al. (1975–2013), Dictionary of Medieval Latin from British Sources, London: British Academy / Oxford University Press