mental

See also: mentál

English

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈmɛn.təl/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˈmɛn.təl/, [ˈmɛɾ̃əl]

• Audio (US):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɛntəl
• Hyphenation: men‧tal

Etymology 1

Etymology tree

Proto-Indo-European *men-

Proto-Indo-European *-tós

Proto-Indo-European *-is

Proto-Indo-European *-tis

Proto-Indo-European *méntis

Proto-Italic *mentis

Latin mēns

Proto-Indo-European *h₂el-

Proto-Indo-European *-is

Proto-Indo-European *h₂élisder.?

Proto-Italic *-ālis

Latin -ālis

Late Latin mentālislbor.

Middle French mentalbor.

English mental

Borrowed from Middle French mental, a learned borrowing from Late Latin mentālis, from Latin mēns (“mind”) + -ālis (adjectival suffix).

Adjective

mental (comparative more mental, superlative most mental)

1. (relational) Of or relating to the mind or specifically the total emotional and intellectual response of an individual to external reality.
   1. Occurring or experienced in the mind.
      • 1907 August, Robert W[illiam] Chambers, “The Unexpected”, in The Younger Set, New York, N.Y.: D. Appleton & Company, →OCLC, page 240:

        I don't mean all of your friends—only a small proportion—which, however, connects your circle with that deadly, idle, brainless bunch—the insolent chatterers at the opera, […], the neurotic victims of mental cirrhosis, the jewelled animals whose moral code is the code of the barnyard—!

      Synonyms: inner, psychological

   2. Relating to the mind, its activity, or its products as an object of study.

      mental science

   3. Of or relating to intellectual as contrasted with emotional activity.

      mental acuity

   4. Of, relating to, or being intellectual as contrasted with overt physical activity.
      • 2013 July 19, Ian Sample, “Irregular bedtimes may affect children's brains”, in The Guardian Weekly‎^[1], volume 189, number 6, archived from the original on 18 October 2026, page 34:

        Irregular bedtimes may disrupt healthy brain development in young children, according to a study of intelligence and sleeping habits.  ¶ Going to bed at a different time each night affected girls more than boys, but both fared worse on mental tasks than children who had a set bedtime, researchers found.

      Synonym: ideological

   5. Relating to spirit or idea as opposed to matter.
      • the distinction between physical things and mental ideas
2. Of, relating to, or affected by a psychiatric disorder.

   a mental patient

   1. (relational) Intended for the care or treatment of persons affected by psychiatric disorders.

      mental hospitals

   2. (colloquial, UK, Ireland, Australia, New Zealand, dated in the US, Canada, comparable) Mentally disordered; insane, mad, crazy.

      He is the most mental freshman I've seen yet.

      He went mental on us.

3. (colloquial, UK, Ireland, Australia, New Zealand, comparable) Enjoyable or fun, especially in a frenetic way.

   That was a mental party last night.

4. Of or relating to telepathic or mind-reading powers.

   mental telepathy

Derived terms

• alpha-thalassemia mental retardation syndrome
• amental
• bimental
• extramental
• go mental
• inframental
• intermental
• intramental
• mental aberration
• mental acrobatics
• mental age
• mental arithmetic
• mental asylum
• mental block
• mental breakdown
• mental calculation
• mental calculator
• mental case
• mentalcel
• mental cleft
• mental cruelty
• mental deficient
• mental disease
• mental disorder
• mental-disordered
• mental disturbance
• mentalese
• mental gymnast
• mental gymnastics
• mental health
• mental home
• mental hospital
• mental hotel
• mental hygiene
• mental illness
• mental image
• mental inquest warrant
• mental institution
• mentalisation
• mentalism
• mentalist
• mentality
• mentalization
• mentalize, mentalise
• mentally
• mental masturbation
• mental math
• mental mediumship
• mental midget
• mental model
• mental patient
• mental plane
• mental reservation
• mental retardation
• mentastics
• neuromental
• nonmental
• organic mental disorder
• organic mental syndrome
• physico-mental
• physiomental
• positive mental attitude
• psychomental
• supramental
• unmental

Translations

relating to the mind

• Arabic: عَقْلِيّ (ar) (ʕaqliyy)
• Asturian: mental
• Belarusian: разумо́вы (razumóvy)
• Bengali: মানসিক (bn) (manośik)
• Bulgarian: у́мствен (bg) (úmstven), мисло́вен (bg) (mislóven)
• Catalan: mental (ca)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 心理的 (zh) (xīnlǐ de), 精神的 (zh) (jīngshén de)

• Czech: duševní (cs)
• Dutch: geestelijk (nl), mentaal (nl)
• Esperanto: mensa (eo), psika, psiĥa
• Finnish: henkinen (fi), mentaalinen (fi), psyykkinen (fi), mieli-
• French: mental (fr)
• Galician: mental (gl)
• Georgian: გონებრივი (gonebrivi), მენტალური (menṭaluri)
• German: geistig (de), mental (de), psychisch (de), seelisch (de)
• Greek: διανοητικός (el) m (dianoïtikós), πνευματικός (el) m (pnevmatikós), νοητικός (el) m (noïtikós)
• Haitian Creole: mantal
• Hindi: मानसिक (hi) (mānsik)
• Hungarian: mentális (hu), lelki (hu), értelmi (hu), szellemi (hu), elmebeli (hu), elme-
• Indonesian: mental (id)
• Irish: meabhrach
• Italian: mentale (it)
• Japanese: 心の (こころの, kokoro no), 精神的 (ja) (せいしんてき, seishinteki), 心的 (ja) (しんてき, shinteki)
• Kazakh: психикалық (psıyxıykalıq)
• Korean: 정신의 (ko) (jeongsin-ui)
• Macedonian: мисловен (misloven)
• Occitan: mental (oc)
• Polish: psychiczny (pl), umysłowy (pl), mentalny (pl)
• Portuguese: mental (pt)
• Romanian: mintal (ro), mental (ro) m or n
• Russian: у́мственный (ru) (úmstvennyj)
• Sanskrit: मानस (sa) (mānasa)
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: ду̏ше̄ван, ми̑сао̄н

  Latin: dȕšēvan (sh), mȋsaōn (sh)

• Slovak: duševný
• Slovene: duševen
• Spanish: mental (es)
• Swedish: själslig (sv), psykisk (sv)
• Tagalog: isipnin
• Tamil: மன (ta) (maṉa)
• Telugu: మానసికమైన (mānasikamaina)
• Thai: ทางจิต, จิต- (th) (jìt-)
• Turkish: mental (tr), zihinsel (tr)
• Ukrainian: розумо́вий (rozumóvyj), ми́слений (mýslenyj)
• Volapük: tikälik (vo)

relating to a crazy person

• Esperanto: freneza (eo)
• Finnish: hullu (fi)
• Greek: τρελός (el) m (trelós)
• Hungarian: elmebeteg (hu), elvetemült (hu)
• Italian: pazzo (it)
• Polish: szalony (pl)
• Russian: психованный (ru) (psixovannyj)
• Tamil: கிறுக்கு (ta) (kiṟukku)
• Ukrainian: психі́чний (psyxíčnyj)

Noun

mental (plural mentals)

1. (slang) State of mind; ellipsis of mental state.

   y'all need to fix your mentals

2. (UK, slang) A crazy person; a crackpot.
   • 2021, Mark Billingham, Rabbit Hole:

     I could see straight away that he didn't really want to be there. That he thought interviewing a bunch of mentals was a colossal waste of time.

3. (India, offensive) A mentally challenged person.

Etymology 2

Etymology tree

Proto-Indo-European *men-

Proto-Indo-European *-tós

Proto-Indo-European *mn̥tós

Proto-Italic *məntom

Latin mentum

Proto-Indo-European *h₂el-

Proto-Indo-European *-is

Proto-Indo-European *h₂élisder.?

Proto-Italic *-ālis

Latin -ālislbor.

Old French -albor.

▲

Latin -ālis

Old French -elbor.

▲

Latin -ālisbor.

Middle English -al

English -al

English mental

c. 1727, from Latin mentum (“the chin”) +‎ -al.

Adjective

mental (not comparable)

1. (anatomy, relational) Of or relating to the chin or median part of the lower jaw, genial.

   Synonyms: genial, genian

   the mental nerve, the mental region

2. (biology, relational) Of or relating to the chinlike or liplike structure.

Derived terms

• basilomental
• cardosubmental
• cervicomental
• corneomental
• frontomental
• gulamental
• hyomental
• inframental
• labiomental
• mental artery
• mental foramen
• mental nerve
• mental protuberance
• nasomental
• occipitomental
• palmomental
• pollicomental
• postmental
• premental
• sternomental
• submental
• thyromental
• verticomental

Translations

relating to the chin

• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 頦的 / 颏的 (zh) (kē de, (Taiwan) hái de)

• Esperanto: mentona
• Greek: πωγωνικός m (pogonikós), γενειακός m (geneiakós)
• Italian: mentale (it), mentoniero (it), genieno
• Polish: bródkowy
• Volapük: cünik

Noun

mental (plural mentals)

1. (zootomy) A plate or scale covering the mentum or chin of a fish or reptile.

References

• “mental”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.
• “mental”, in Merriam-Webster Online, Springfield, Massachusetts: Merriam-Webster, Inc., 1996–present.

Further reading

• “mental”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.
• William Dwight Whitney, Benjamin Eli Smith, editors (1895–1910), “mental”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., →OCLC.

Anagrams

• mantel, Lament., lament, mantle, Mantel, manlet, Mantle

Asturian

Etymology

From Late Latin mentālis from Latin mēns; equivalent to mente +‎ -al.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /menˈtal/ [mẽn̪ˈt̪al]
• Rhymes: -al
• Syllabification: men‧tal

Adjective

mental (epicene, plural mentales)

1. mental

Related terms

• mente

Catalan

Etymology

Borrowed from Late Latin mentālis, from Latin mēns; equivalent to ment +‎ -al.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): (Northern, Balearic, Central) [mənˈtal]
• IPA^(key): (Valencia, Northwestern) [menˈtal]

• Audio (Barcelona):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -al
• Hyphenation: men‧tal

Adjective

mental m or f (masculine and feminine plural mentals)

1. mental

Derived terms

• mentalitat
• mentalment

Related terms

• ment

Further reading

• “mental”, in Diccionari de la llengua catalana [Dictionary of the Catalan Language] (in Catalan), second edition, Institute of Catalan Studies [Catalan: Institut d'Estudis Catalans], April 2007
• “mental”, in Gran Diccionari de la Llengua Catalana, Grup Enciclopèdia Catalana, 2026
• “mental” in Diccionari normatiu valencià, Acadèmia Valenciana de la Llengua.
• Alcover, Antoni Maria; Moll, Francesc de Borja (1963), “mental”, in Diccionari català-valencià-balear (in Catalan)

Cebuano

Etymology

Clipping of English mental hospital.

Noun

mental

1. mental hospital

Verb

mental

1. to send or commit to a mental hospital

Danish

Etymology

From Latin mentālis.

Adjective

mental (neuter mentalt, plural and definite singular attributive mentale)

1. mental (pertaining to the mind)

   Synonym: åndelig

   Antonym: fysisk

   Coordinate terms: psykisk, sjælelig

Inflection

Inflection of mental

	positive	comparative	superlative
indefinite common singular	mental	—	—2
indefinite neuter singular	mentalt	—	—2
plural	mentale	—	—2
definite attributive1	mentale	—	—

¹ When an adjective is applied predicatively to something definite,
the corresponding "indefinite" form is used.
² The "indefinite" superlatives may not be used attributively.

References

• “mental” in Den Danske Ordbog

French

Etymology

Learned borrowing from Late Latin mentālis (“of the mind, mental”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /mɑ̃.tal/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Audio (France (Vosges)):

  (file)

• Audio (France (Somain)):

  (file)

Adjective

mental (feminine mentale, masculine plural mentaux, feminine plural mentales)

1. (relational) mind; mental

Derived terms

• carte mentale
• malade mental
• malade mentale
• maladie mentale
• mentalement

Descendants

• Haitian Creole: mantal
• → Turkish: mantal

Noun

mental m (uncountable)

1. mind

   Elle a un mental d'acier. ― She has a mind of steel.

Further reading

• “mental”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012

Anagrams

• lament, mêlant

Galician

Etymology

From Late Latin mentālis, from Latin mēns; equivalent to mente +‎ -al.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /menˈtal/ [mẽn̪ˈt̪ɑɫ]
• IPA^(key): /mɛnˈtal/ [mɛ̃n̪ˈt̪ɑɫ]
• Rhymes: -al
• Hyphenation: men‧tal

Adjective

mental m or f (plural mentais)

1. mental

Derived terms

• mentalmente

Related terms

• mente

Further reading

• “mental”, in DIGALEGO - Dicionario de Galego (in Galician), Ir Indo; Xunta de Galicia, 2013 [2004]
• “mental”, in Dicionario da Real Academia Galega (in Galician), A Coruña: Royal Galician Academy, 2012–2026
• Antón Santamarina, Ernesto X. González Seoane, María Álvarez de la Granja, editors (2003–2018), “mental”, in Tesouro informatizado da lingua galega (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega

German

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin mentālis.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [mɛnˈtaːl]

• Audio (Germany (Berlin)):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -aːl

Adjective

mental (strong nominative masculine singular mentaler, not comparable)

1. mental

Declension

Positive forms of mental (uncomparable)

number & gender		singular			plural
		masculine	feminine	neuter
predicative		er ist mental	sie ist mental	es ist mental	sie sind mental
strong declension (without article)	nominative	mentaler	mentale	mentales	mentale
	genitive	mentalen	mentaler	mentalen	mentaler
	dative	mentalem	mentaler	mentalem	mentalen
	accusative	mentalen	mentale	mentales	mentale
weak declension (with definite article)	nominative	der mentale	die mentale	das mentale	die mentalen
	genitive	des mentalen	der mentalen	des mentalen	der mentalen
	dative	dem mentalen	der mentalen	dem mentalen	den mentalen
	accusative	den mentalen	die mentale	das mentale	die mentalen
mixed declension (with indefinite article)	nominative	ein mentaler	eine mentale	ein mentales	(keine) mentalen
	genitive	eines mentalen	einer mentalen	eines mentalen	(keiner) mentalen
	dative	einem mentalen	einer mentalen	einem mentalen	(keinen) mentalen
	accusative	einen mentalen	eine mentale	ein mentales	(keine) mentalen

Indonesian

Etymology 1

From Dutch mentaal, from Middle French mental, from Late Latin mentālis (“of the mind, mental”), from Latin mēns (“the mind”).

Pronunciation

• (Standard Indonesian) IPA^(key): /ˈmɛntal/ [ˈmen̪.t̪al]
• Rhymes: -ɛntal
• Syllabification: men‧tal

Adjective

mental (comparative lebih mental, superlative paling mental)

1. mental: of or relating to the mind or an intellectual process

Noun

mental (plural mental-mental)

1. mind

   Synonyms: batin, watak

Related terms

• mentalitas

Etymology 2

From Betawi mental. Doublet of pental.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [mənˈtal]
• Hyphenation: men‧tal

Verb

mental

1. to bounce off

   Synonyms: terpelanting, terpental

2. to backfire

Etymology 3

From Sundanese mental.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [mənˈtal]
• Hyphenation: men‧tal

Adjective

mental (comparative lebih mental, superlative paling mental)

1. useless

Further reading

• “mental”, in Kamus Besar Bahasa Indonesia [Great Dictionary of the Indonesian Language] (in Indonesian), Jakarta: Agency for Language Development and Cultivation – Ministry of Education, Culture, Research, and Technology of the Republic of Indonesia, 2016

Malay

Etymology

Borrowed from English mental, from Middle French mental, from Late Latin mentālis, from mēns (“mind, disposition; heart, soul”) +‎ -ālis (“-al”, adjectival suffix).

Pronunciation

• (English-based) IPA^(key): /ˈmentəl/ [ˈmɛn̪.t̪əl]

  • Audio (Malaysia):

    (file)

  • Rhymes: -təl, -əl

• (Literary Standard) IPA^(key): /ˈmental/ [ˈmen̪.t̪al]

  • Audio (Malaysia):

    (file)

  • Rhymes: -tal, -al
• Hyphenation: men‧tal

Adjective

mental (Jawi spelling مينتل, comparative lebih mental, superlative paling mental)

1. Mental:
   1. Relating to the mind, thought or intellectual processes.
   2. (informal) Not sane; crazy, insane.

      Synonym: gila

Derived terms

Compounds

• gangguan mental
• kecelaruan mental
• sakit mental, penyakit mental
• umur mental
• usia mental

Related terms

• mentaliti

Further reading

• "mental" in Pusat Rujukan Persuratan Melayu (PRPM) [Malay Literary Reference Centre (PRPM)] (in Malay), Kuala Lumpur: Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka, 2017
  (also see "mental" at PRPM first version)

Norwegian Bokmål

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin mentalis, from mens.

Adjective

mental (neuter singular mentalt, definite singular and plural mentale)

1. mental

References

• “mental” in The Bokmål Dictionary.

Norwegian Nynorsk

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin mentalis, from mens.

Adjective

mental (neuter singular mentalt, definite singular and plural mentale)

1. mental

References

• “mental” in The Nynorsk Dictionary.

Polish

Pronunciation

• (Masovia):
  • (Far Masovian) IPA^(key): [ˈmɛn.tal]

Etymology 1

From medal.

Noun

mental m inan

1. (Far Masovian) alternative form of medal

Etymology 2

From motyl.

Noun

mental m animal

1. (Far Masovian) alternative form of motyl

Further reading

• Wojciech Grzegorzewicz (1894), “mental”, in “O języku ludowym w powiecie przasnyskim”, in Sprawozdania Komisji Językowej Akademii Umiejętności (in Polish), volume 5, Krakow: Akademia Umiejętności, page 114

Portuguese

Etymology

Borrowed from Late Latin mentālis, from Latin mēns. By surface analysis, mente +‎ -al.

Pronunciation

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /mẽˈtaw/ [mẽˈtaʊ̯]

 

• (Portugal) IPA^(key): /mẽˈtal/ [mẽˈtaɫ]

• (Portugal) IPA^(key): /mẽˈtal/ [mẽˈtaɫ]
  • (Southern Portugal) IPA^(key): /mẽˈta.li/

• Rhymes: (Portugal) -al, (Brazil) -aw
• Hyphenation: men‧tal

Adjective

mental m or f (plural mentais, not comparable)

1. mental

Derived terms

• mentalmente

Related terms

• mente

Further reading

• “mental”, in Dicionário Aulete Digital (in Portuguese), Rio de Janeiro: Lexikon Editora Digital, 2008–2026
• “mental”, in Dicionário Priberam da Língua Portuguesa (in Portuguese), Lisbon: Priberam, 2008–2026

Romanian

Adjective

mental m or n (feminine singular mentală, masculine plural mentali, feminine/neuter plural mentale)

1. alternative form of mintal

Declension

Declension of mental

		singular			plural
		masculine	neuter	feminine	masculine	neuter	feminine
nominative- accusative	indefinite	mental		mentală	mentali	mentale
	definite	mentalul		mentala	mentalii	mentalele
genitive- dative	indefinite	mental		mentale	mentali	mentale
	definite	mentalului		mentalei	mentalilor	mentalelor

Spanish

Etymology

Borrowed from Late Latin mentālis, from Latin mēns; equivalent to mente +‎ -al.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /menˈtal/ [mẽn̪ˈt̪al]
• Rhymes: -al
• Syllabification: men‧tal

Adjective

mental m or f (masculine and feminine plural mentales)

1. mental

Derived terms

• anorexia mental
• bulimia mental
• deficiencia mental
• edad mental
• enajenación mental
• experimento mental
• mentalmente
• oración mental
• paja mental
• retrasado mental
• retraso mental
• salud mental
• trastorno mental

Related terms

• mentalidad
• mente

Further reading

• “mental”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.8.1, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 15 December 2025

Swedish

Etymology

Borrowed from Late Latin mentalis, from Latin mens.

Adjective

mental

1. mental, pertaining to the mind

Declension

Inflection of mental

Indefinite	positive	comparative	superlative1
common singular	mental	—	—
neuter singular	mentalt	—	—
plural	mentala	—	—
masculine plural2	mentale	—	—
Definite	positive	comparative	superlative
masculine singular3	mentale	—	—
all	mentala	—	—

¹ The indefinite superlative forms are only used in the predicative.
² Dated or archaic.
³ Only used, optionally, to refer to things whose natural gender is masculine.

Related terms

• mentalpatient
• mentalsjuk
• mentalsjukhus

Anagrams

• mantel

Tagalog

Pronunciation

• (Standard Tagalog) IPA^(key): /ˈmental/ [ˈmɛn̪.t̪ɐl]
• Rhymes: -ental
• Syllabification: men‧tal

Etymology 1

Borrowed from English mental.

Adjective

mental (Baybayin spelling ᜋᜒᜈ᜔ᜆᜎ᜔)

1. mental

Etymology 2

Ellipsis of English mental hospital.

Noun

mental (Baybayin spelling ᜋᜒᜈ᜔ᜆᜎ᜔)

1. mental hospital

   Synonym: manikomyo

Related terms

• mentalidad

See also

• asilo

Further reading

• “mental”, in Pambansang Diksiyonaryo | Diksiyonaryo.ph, 2018