mensis

Latin

Pronunciation

mēnsis: (Classical) IPA^(key): /ˈmen.sis/, [ˈmẽːs̠ɪs̠]

mēnsis: (Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /ˈmen.sis/, [ˈmɛnsis]
mēnsīs: (Classical) IPA^(key): /ˈmen.siːs/, [ˈmẽːs̠iːs̠]

mēnsīs: (Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /ˈmen.sis/, [ˈmɛnsis]

Etymology 1

From Proto-Italic *mēnsis, extended from *mēns, from Proto-Indo-European *mḗh₁n̥s (“moon, month”), probably from *meh₁- (“to measure”), referring to the moon's phases as the measure of time. Cognate with Ancient Greek μήν (mḗn), μήνη (mḗnē), English month, Scots moneth (“month”), Lithuanian mėnesis (“month”), North Frisian muunt (“month”), Saterland Frisian Mound (“month”), Dutch maand (“month”), German Low German Maand, Monat (“month”), German Monat (“month”), Danish måned (“month”), Swedish månad (“month”), Icelandic mánuði (“month”), Armenian ամիս (amis), Old Irish mí, Old Church Slavonic мѣсѧць (měsęcĭ).

Noun

mēnsis m (genitive mēnsis); third declension

a month.

Inflection

Third-declension noun (i-stem).

Case	Singular	Plural
Nominative	mēnsis	mēnsēs
Genitive	mēnsis	mēnsium mēnsum
Dative	mēnsī	mēnsibus
Accusative	mēnsem	mēnsēs mēnsīs
Ablative	mēnse	mēnsibus
Vocative	mēnsis	mēnsēs

Despite being an I-stem, this noun has the consonantal accusative singular termination -em and the consonantal ablative singular termination -e.

Derived terms

mēnstruus
mēnsuālis

Related terms

bimēstris
mēnstrua
mēnstruālis
mēnstruō
sēmēstris
trimestris

Descendants

Descendants of mensis in other languages

Aromanian: mes
Asturian: mes
Catalan: mes
Dalmatian: mais
Old French: mois, meis
- French: mois
- Norman: mais (Jersey), meis (Guernsey, continental Normandy)
Friulian: mês
Galician: mes
Istriot: miz
Italian: mese
Ladin: meis, mens
Ligurian: méize
Occitan: mes
Old Portuguese: mes
- Portuguese: mês
Romansch: mais
Sardinian: mese, mesi
Sicilian: misi
Spanish: mes
Venetian: méxe
Walloon: moes

Etymology 2

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

Noun

mēnsīs f

dative/ablative plural of mēnsa

Etymology 3

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

Participle

mēnsīs

dative/ablative masculine/feminine/neuter plural of mēnsus

References

“mensis”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
“mensis”, in Charlton T. Lewis (1891) An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
mensis in Charles du Fresne du Cange’s Glossarium Mediæ et Infimæ Latinitatis (augmented edition with additions by D. P. Carpenterius, Adelungius and others, edited by Léopold Favre, 1883–1887)
mensis in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette
Carl Meißner; Henry William Auden (1894) Latin Phrase-Book‎, London: Macmillan and Co.
- to hold out for four months: obsidionem quattuor menses sustinere
- (ambiguous) the intercalary year (month, day): annus (mensis, dies) intercalaris
“mensis”, in Harry Thurston Peck, editor (1898) Harper's Dictionary of Classical Antiquities, New York: Harper & Brothers
“mensis”, in William Smith et al., editor (1890) A Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities, London: William Wayte. G. E. Marindin