mentum

mentum

See also: -mentum

English

Etymology

Learned borrowing from Latin mentum (“the chin”). Doublet of menton.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈmɛn.təm/
• Rhymes: -ɛntəm

Noun

mentum (plural menta)

1. (anatomy) The chin.
2. (malacology) A chin-like projection below the mouth of certain mollusks.
3. (entomology) The central part of the labium in insects.
4. (botany) A projection in front of the flower in some orchids.

Derived terms

• postmentum
• prementum
• submentum

Related terms

• mental
• mento-

References

• “mentum”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.
• “mentum”, in Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary

Anagrams

• nummet

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Latin

Etymology

From Proto-Italic *mentom, from Proto-Indo-European *men-to-, from *men- (“to project”). Cognate with Proto-Germanic *munþaz.

Pronunciation

• (Classical) IPA^(key): /ˈmen.tum/, [ˈmɛn̪t̪ʊ̃ˑ]
• (Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /ˈmen.tum/, [ˈmɛn̪t̪um]

Noun

mentum n (genitive mentī); second declension

1. (literally) the chin; the chin with the hair that grows on it; the beard
   • 29 BCE – 19 BCE, Virgil, Aeneid 6.809:

     nosco crinis incanaque menta regis Romani primam qui legibus urbem fundabit, Curibus paruis et paupere terra missus in imperium magnum.

2. (transferred sense, architecture) the projecting part of a cornice casting off the rain, the coping
   • c. 15 BCE, Vitruvius, De architectura 4.3.6:

     Reliqua spatia, quod latiores sint metopae quam triglyphi, pura relinquantur aut numina scalpantur, ad ipsumque mentum coronae incidatur linea quae scotia dicitur.

Inflection

Second-declension noun (neuter).

Case	Singular	Plural
Nominative	mentum	menta
Genitive	mentī	mentōrum
Dative	mentō	mentīs
Accusative	mentum	menta
Ablative	mentō	mentīs
Vocative	mentum	menta

Derived terms

• mentāgra
• mentālis (adjective)
• mentīgō
• mentō

Descendants

• Vulgar Latin: *mentō, *mentōnem
  • Gallo-Italic:
    • Ligurian: manton, menton
    • Piedmontese: manton, menton
  • Gallo-Romance:
    • Old French: menton, mentun
      • French: menton
      • → Spanish: mentón
  • Occitano-Romance:
    • Catalan: mentó
    • Occitan: menton
• → English: mentum (learned)
• → Italian: mento (learned)
• → Portuguese: mento (learned)
• Sicilian: mentu

Further reading

• “mentum”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “mentum”, in Charlton T. Lewis (1891) An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
• mentum 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)
• mentum in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette
• Carl Meißner; Henry William Auden (1894) Latin Phrase-Book‎, London: Macmillan and Co.
  • (ambiguous) to see with the mind's eye: oculis mentis videre aliquid
    
  • (ambiguous) to be of sane mind: mentis compotem esse
    
  • (ambiguous) to be of sound mind: sanae mentis esse
    
  • (ambiguous) to obscure the mental vision: mentis quasi luminibus officere (vid. sect. XIII. 6) or animo caliginem offundere
    
  • (ambiguous) innate ideas: notiones animo (menti) insitae, innatae
    
  • (ambiguous) to lose one's composure; to be disconcerted: de statu suo or mentis deici (Att. 16. 15)
    
  • (ambiguous) to lose one's head, be beside oneself: sui (mentis) compotem non esse
    
  • (ambiguous) enthusiasm: ardor, inflammatio animi, incitatio mentis, mentis vis incitatior