mendax

mendax

Latin

Etymology

Derived from mentior (“I lie, deceive”) +‎ -āx (“inclined to”), or from Proto-Indo-European *mend- (“to fault”), whence mendum and menda.

Pronunciation

• (Classical) IPA^(key): /ˈmen.daːks/, [ˈmɛn.daːks]
• (Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /ˈmen.daks/, [ˈmen.daks], [ˈmɛn.daks]

Adjective

mendāx (genitive mendācis); third declension

1. deceitful, lying, deceptive, untruthful, false, mendacious, feigned, not real.

Inflection

Note that mendāce is an alternative form for the ablative singular mendācīThird declension.

Number	Singular			Plural
Case / Gender	Masc./Fem.	Neuter		Masc./Fem.	Neuter
Nominative	mendāx	mendāx		mendācēs	mendācia
Genitive	mendācis	mendācis		mendācium	mendācium
Dative	mendācī	mendācī		mendācibus	mendācibus
Accusative	mendācem	mendāx		mendācēs	mendācia
Ablative	mendācī	mendācī		mendācibus	mendācibus
Vocative	mendāx	mendāx		mendācēs	mendācia

• comparative: mendācior, superlative: mendācissimus

Synonyms

• (false, lying): dēceptōrius, fallāx, falsus

Antonyms

• (false, untruthful): sincērus, vērāx, vēridicus, vērus

Derived terms

• mendācitās
• mendāciter
• mendācium

Related terms

• mendāciloquium
• mendāciloquus
• mendāciunculum

Descendants

• English: mendacious
• Italian: mendace
• Portuguese: mendace, mendaz
• Spanish: mendaz

Noun

mendāx m (genitive mendācis); third declension

1. liar

Inflection

Third declension.

Case	Singular	Plural
Nominative	mendāx	mendācēs
Genitive	mendācis	mendācum
Dative	mendācī	mendācibus
Accusative	mendācem	mendācēs
Ablative	mendāce	mendācibus
Vocative	mendāx	mendācēs

References

• mendax in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• mendax in Charlton T. Lewis (1891) An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
• mendax in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire Illustré Latin-Français, Hachette
• Julius Pokorny (1959), Indogermanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, in 3 vols, Bern, München: Francke Verlag