Etymograph

English

mental

Mental comes from Middle French mental, from Late Latin mentālis, from Latin mēns ‘mind’, ultimately from PIE *men- ‘to think’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*men-1‘to think’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*méntis1‘thought’reconstructed
  3. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*mentis1‘mind’reconstructed
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEmēns2‘mind’
  5. Late Latinc. 200–600 CEmentālis2‘mental’
  6. Middle Frenchc. 1400–1600mental2
  7. Englishearliest quotation 1907mental2

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, Latin mens
  2. 2 Wiktionary, English mental
  3. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1907, Robert William Chambers, The Unexpected: “I don't mean all of your friends—only a small…”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*men-Wiktionary, Latin mens‘to think’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*méntisWiktionary, Latin mens‘thought’reconstructed
  3. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*mentisWiktionary, Latin mens‘mind’reconstructed
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEmēnsWiktionary, English mental‘mind’
  5. Late Latinc. 200–600 CEmentālisWiktionary, English mental‘mental’
  6. Middle Frenchc. 1400–1600mentalWiktionary, English mental
  7. Englishearliest quotation 1907mentalWiktionary, English mental. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1907, Robert William Chambers, The Unexpected: “I don't mean all of your friends—only a small…”

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *men- ‘to think, mind’

money, music, amount, mouth, remain, museum, monster, auto, min, monitor, mountain, comment, mount, permanent, mention, demonstration, monk, monetary, maya, monastery, amnesty, mint, muse, mosaic, summon, ming, mas, mandarin, mindful, mania, monte, muster, monstrous, prominence, amnesia, manic, monument, imminent, mantra, mentor, 120 more

through Proto-Indo-European *méntis ‘thought’

mind, mantis, 3 more

through Latin mēns ‘mind, disposition’

dementia, 3 more

Another origin of mental

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*men-‘to think, mind’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*mn̥tósreconstructed
  3. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*məntomreconstructed
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEmentum‘the chin’
  5. Englishtodaymental

Today it means

adj Occurring or experienced in the mind.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “mental”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entry for Latin mens. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.

Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *men- / mental

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