Etymologically
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mentalis

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Pronunciation

  • Classical: [mɛnˈtaː.lɪs][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [menˈtaː.lis][1]

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]

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