mendax

Latin

Etymology

Derived from Proto-Indo-European *mend- (“to fault”), whence also mendum and menda, plus -āx. Original meaning was "faulty" and was shifted towards "deceitful" under the influence of mentior (“to lie”).

Pronunciation

• (Classical Latin) IPA^(key): [ˈmɛn.daːks]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): [ˈmɛn.daks]
• Hyphenation: men‧dāx

Adjective

mendāx (genitive mendācis, comparative mendācior, superlative mendācissimus, adverb mendāciter); third-declension one-termination adjective

1. mendacious (lying, untruthful, dishonest)

   Synonyms: dēceptōrius, fallāx, falsus, levis

   Antonyms: sincērus, vērāx, vēridicus, vērus

Declension

Third-declension one-termination adjective.

	singular			plural
	masc./fem.	neuter		masc./fem.	neuter
nominative	mendāx			mendācēs	mendācia
genitive	mendācis			mendācium
dative	mendācī			mendācibus
accusative	mendācem	mendāx		mendācīs mendācēs	mendācia
ablative	mendācī mendāce			mendācibus
vocative	mendāx			mendācēs	mendācia

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

   Antonym: vērāx

Declension

Third-declension noun (i-stem).

	singular	plural
nominative	mendāx	mendācēs
genitive	mendācis	mendācium
dative	mendācī	mendācibus
accusative	mendācem	mendācēs mendācīs
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.
• Pokorny, Julius (1959), Indogermanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch (in German), in 3 vols, Bern; München: Francke Verlag

Further reading

• R. E. Latham, D. R. Howlett, & R. K. Ashdowne, editors (1975–2013), “mendax”, in Dictionary of Medieval Latin from British Sources‎^[1], London: Oxford University Press for the British Academy, →ISBN, →OCLC