mentior Latin · revision 8338

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=derivation|attested=Plautus|origins=la mēns}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA (Classical): [ˈmɛn.ti.ɔr]^(Wiktionary)

+ * IPA (Ecclesiastical): [ˈmɛn.t͡si.or]^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''mentior''' (present infinitive mentīrī or mentīrier, perfect active mentītus sum); fourth conjugation, deponent^(Wiktionary)

+ The present participle is sometimes passive in sense.^(OLD 2012)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is from [[mēns]] “mind”, stem ⟨ment-⟩, from [[ine-pro|*méntis]], from the root [[ine-pro|*men-|t=to think]].^(OLD 2012)^(Wiktionary) Wiktionary explains the sense “to lie” from “to be inventive”, as in [[comminīscor]] “to invent”.^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ The OLD's earliest citation is from Plautus, of telling a lie.^(OLD 2012) Köbler dates Plautus c. 250–184 BC.^(Köbler 2010)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ It meant to tell a falsehood, lie, as in Plautus, and in Catullus to promise falsely.^(OLD 2012) In Sallust it meant to misrepresent, disguise, in Pliny the Elder to invent, fabricate, and in Ovid to feign, simulate.^(OLD 2012)

+

+ It survives in Italian ''mentire'', French, Spanish and Portuguese ''mentir'', and Romanian ''minți''.^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 250–184 BC – Plautus uses it of lying.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 81/79–52/50 BC – Catullus uses it of false promises.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 43 BC–18 AD – Ovid uses it of feigning.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Verb===

+ # To [[m|en|lie]].^(OLD 2012)

+ # To promise falsely.^(OLD 2012)

+ # To misrepresent; to disguise.^(OLD 2012)

+ # To invent, [[m|en|fabricate]].^(OLD 2012)

+ # To feign.^(OLD 2012)

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[mendax]]

+ * [[mentītus]]

+ * [[mentiō]]

+ * [[mēns]]

+ * [[comminīscor]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}