Mental

Part of speech: adjective

Pronunciation: /ˈmɛn.təl/

Definitions

1. Relating to the mind, intellect, or psychological processes rather than physical aspects
2. Pertaining to the cognitive functions, emotional states, or psychological well-being, rather than tangible or bodily elements
3. Connected to the processes of thinking and understanding as well as one's emotional and psychological health, distinguishing these from physical characteristics

Etymology: Mental has a surprising double life. Its main line runs from Latin "mens," meaning "mind," through the adjectival suffix "-alis," producing "mentalis" in Late Latin. French took it up as "mental" in the learned style of scholars, and English borrowed that French form. The sense was always plainly about the mind, so there is no drift from the original meaning here. The word has a second, separate origin that most readers would never guess. In the early 1700s, English also formed "mental" from Latin "mentum," meaning "the chin," with the same "-al" ending. That chin sense appears in the record around 1727, so the word existed in English in two unrelated guises: one about thinking, one about the jaw. Only the mind-sense survived into modern use.

Synonyms: cognitive, intellectual, psychological, brain, psychic

Antonyms: physical, bodily, material, tangible, corporeal