mens

See also: men's

English

Etymology 1

Noun

mens

1. (nonstandard, African-American Vernacular) Alternative form of men (“plural of man”)
2. Obsolete form of men's.
   • 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Luke 21:26:

     Mens hearts failing them for feare, and for looking after those things which are comming on the earth; For the powers of heauen shall be shaken.

   • 1634 October 9 (first performance), [John Milton], edited by H[enry] Lawes, A Maske Presented at Ludlow Castle, 1634: […] [Comus], London: […] [Augustine Matthews] for Hvmphrey Robinson, […], published 1637, →OCLC; reprinted as Comus: […] (Dodd, Mead & Company’s Facsimile Reprints of Rare Books; Literature Series; no. I), New York, N.Y.: Dodd, Mead & Company, 1903, →OCLC:

     A thousand fantasies
     Begin to throng into my memory
     Of calling shapes, and beckning shadows dire,
     And airy tongues, that syllable mens names
     On Sands, and Shoars, and desert Wildernesses.

   • c. 1670s (date written), Thomas Brown [i.e., Thomas Browne], “Sect[ion] II”, in John Jeffery, editor, Christian Morals, […], Cambridge, Cambridgeshire: […] [A]t the University-Press, for Cornelius Crownfield printer to the University; and are to be sold by Mr. Knapton […]; and Mr. [John] Morphew […], published 1716, →OCLC, part II, pages 46–47:

     Bring candid Eyes unto the peruſal of mens works, and let not Zoiliſm or Detraction blaſt well intended labours.

3. Misspelling of men's.

See also

• womens
• peoples
• menz

Etymology 2

Noun

mens

1. (Philippines, biology, colloquial) Clipping of menstruation.

Anagrams

• NEMS, nems

Afrikaans

Etymology

From Dutch mens, from Middle Dutch mensche, from Old Dutch mennisko, from Proto-Germanic *manniskaz.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /mɛns/

• Audio; [mẽːs]:

  (file)

Noun

mens (plural mense, diminutive mensie)

1. person, human being

Pronoun

mens

1. one (indefinite pronoun)

   Synonym: 'n mens

Danish

Alternative forms

• medens (dated)

Etymology

From Old Norse meðan.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /mɛns/, [mens̺]

Conjunction

mens

1. while, when (during the same time that)
2. while (although)
3. whereas

Related terms

• imens

References

• “mens” in Den Danske Ordbog

Dutch

Alternative forms

• mensch (obsolete)

Etymology

From Middle Dutch mensche, from Old Dutch mennisko, a substantivised form of the adjective *mennisk (“human, humanlike”), from Proto-West Germanic *mannisk, from Proto-Germanic *manniskaz.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /mɛns/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Hyphenation: mens
• Rhymes: -ɛns

Noun

mens m (plural mensen, diminutive mensje n)

1. human, any member of the species Homo sapiens

   De mens is van nature een politiek dier.

   Man is by nature a political animal.

   Ik ben ook maar een mens!

   I'm only human!

2. person

Synonyms

• (person): persoon

Derived terms

• aapmens
• binnenmens
• buitenmens
• dorpsmens
• godmens
• goedmens
• halfmens
• manmens
• medemens
• mensbeeld
• mensdom
• menselijk
• menselijkheid
• menseneter
• mensenhandel
• mensenmens
• mensensmokkel
• mensheid
• mensonterend
• menswaardig
• natuurmens
• oermens
• onmens
• paardmens
• plantagemens
• stadsmens
• tussenmens
• vakmens
• vrouwmens

Descendants

• Afrikaans: mens
• Negerhollands: mensch, mens
• Skepi Creole Dutch: mens

Noun

mens n (plural mensen, diminutive mensje n)

1. (informal, derogatory) woman

   Dat mens werkt me echt op de zenuwen.

   That woman really annoys me.

Synonyms

• (woman): secreet, wijf

French

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /mɑ̃/

• Audio (Canada):

  (file)

Verb

mens

1. inflection of mentir:
   1. first/second-person singular present indicative
   2. second-person singular imperative

Ladin

Alternative forms

• mëns, meis

Etymology

From Latin mensis.

Noun

mens m (plural mensc)

1. month

Latin

Etymology

Etymology tree

Proto-Indo-European *men-

Proto-Indo-European *-tis

Proto-Indo-European *méntis

Proto-Italic *mentis

Latin mens

Inherited from Proto-Italic *mentis, from Proto-Indo-European *méntis (“thought”). Cognate with Sanskrit मति (matí), αὐτόματος (autómatos), μάντις (mántis), Russian мнить (mnitʹ, “to think”), Old English ġemynd (whence English mind), Lithuanian mintis (“thought”).

Pronunciation

• (Classical Latin) IPA^(key): /ˈmens/, [ˈmẽːs̠]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /ˈmens/, [ˈmɛns]

Noun

mēns f (genitive mentis); third declension

1. mind
   • 29 BCE – 19 BCE, Virgil, Aeneid 4.39:

     “Nec venit in mentem quōrum cōnsēderis arvīs?”

     “Does it not come into [your] mind [the sort of people] whose lands you have settled?”
     (Idiomatic translations vary – Mackail, 1885: “nor does it cross thy mind”; Knight, 1956: “you should remember”; Mandelbaum, 1971: “have you forgotten”; Fitzgerald, 1981: “have you considered”; Fagles, 2006: “don’t you recall”; Ahl, 2007: “aren’t you concerned about”; Bartsch, 2020: “do you forget”.)

2. intellect, reason
3. reasoning, judgement
4. heart, conscience (seat of the thoughts and will)
5. disposition

   Synonyms: indolēs, ingenium, habitus, nātūra, character

   • c. 69 CE – 122 CE, Suetonius, De vita Caesarum Caligulae:

     hominum erga se mentes

     the dispositions of men toward him

6. thought, plan, purpose, intention

   Synonyms: voluntās, intentiō, propositum, cōnsilium, fīnis, animus

Usage notes

Could be combined with an adjective in an ablative absolute expressing one's state of mind or intention, as in Catullus' obstinata mente perfer "endure it with a resolute mind" or Virgil's simulata mente locutam "spoken with false purpose". In some cases the combination simply expresses the manner in which a (mental) action is performed, as in Ovid's male sit tacita mente precare viro "silently pray for misfortune to befall her husband". Eventually this became a generalized adverbial construction, with clear examples documented by at least the eighth century AD (alterā mente "otherwise", sōlā mente "only") whence the Romance adverbial suffixes of the -mente type.

Declension

Third-declension noun (i-stem).

	singular	plural
nominative	mēns	mentēs
genitive	mentis	mentium
dative	mentī	mentibus
accusative	mentem	mentēs mentīs
ablative	mente	mentibus
vocative	mēns	mentēs

Derived terms

• alterā mente
• āmens
• dēmens
• mentālis
• mentior
• sōlā mente

Related terms

• meminī

Descendants

Nouns:

• Albanian: mend
• Aromanian: minti, minte
• Asturian: miente, mente
• Catalan: ment
• → Esperanto: menso
• Friulian: ment
• Ido: mento
• Italian: mente
• Occitan: ment
• Portuguese: mente
• Romanian: minte
• Sardinian: mente, menti
• Sicilian: menti
• Spanish: mente
• Venetan: ménte

Adverbial suffixes (see usage notes above):

• Italo-Romance:
  • Italian: -mente
• Gallo-Romance:
  • Catalan: -ment
  • Franco-Provençal: -ment
  • Old French: -ment (see there for further descendants)
  • Occitan: -ment
• Ibero-Romance:
  • Asturian: -mente
  • Old Galician-Portuguese: -mente
    • Galician: -mente
    • Portuguese: -mente
  • Spanish: -mente
    • → Interlingua: -mente (and from other Romance forms)

Further reading

• “mens”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “mens”, in Charlton T. Lewis (1891) An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
• mens in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.
• Carl Meißner, Henry William Auden (1894) Latin Phrase-Book‎^[1], London: Macmillan and Co.
  • to attract universal attention: omnium animos or mentes in se convertere
    
  • to free one's mind from the influences of the senses: sevocare mentem a sensibus (De Nat. D. 3. 8. 21)
    
  • to be out of one's mind: mente captum esse, mente alienata esse
    
  • to possess great ability: intellegentia or mente multum valere
    
  • to grasp a thing mentally: animo, mente, cogitatione aliquid comprehendere, complecti
    
  • something comes into my mind: mihi in mentem venit alicuius rei
    
  • to fix all one's thoughts on an object: mentem in aliqua re defigere
    
  • to think over, consider a thing: agitare (in) mente or (in) animo aliquid
    
  • with the intention of..: eo consilio, ea mente, ut
    
  • nothing will ever make me forgetful of him: semper memoria eius in (omnium) mentibus haerebit
    
  • a man's soul breathes through his writings: alicuius mens in scriptis spirat
    
  • to upset a person: alicuius mentem turbare, conturbare, perturbare
    
  • to compose oneself with difficulty: mente vix constare (Tusc. 4. 17. 39)
    
  • to be calm, self-possessed: mente consistere
    
  • a good conscience: mens bene sibi conscia
    
  • to be tormented by remorse: (mens scelerum furiis agitatur)
    
  • superstition has taken possession of their souls: superstitio mentes occupavit (Verr. 4. 51. 113)
    
  • (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
    
• “mens”, in Harry Thurston Peck, editor (1898), Harper’s Dictionary of Classical Antiquities, New York: Harper & Brothers
• mens in Ramminger, Johann (2016 July 16 (last accessed)) Neulateinische Wortliste: Ein Wörterbuch des Lateinischen von Petrarca bis 1700‎^[2], pre-publication website, 2005-2016
• “mens”, in William Smith, editor (1848), A Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology, London: John Murray

Norwegian Bokmål

Etymology 1

From Danish mens, from older medens, from Old Norse meðan.

Conjunction

mens

1. while
2. whereas

See also

• medan (Nynorsk)

Etymology 2

Noun

mens m (definite singular mensen, indefinite plural mens or menser, definite plural mensene)

1. short for menstruasjon (menstruation), a monthly period.

References

• “mens” in The Bokmål Dictionary.

Norwegian Nynorsk

Noun

mens m (definite singular mensen, indefinite plural mensar, definite plural mensane)

1. short for menstruasjon (menstruation), a monthly period.

References

• “mens” in The Nynorsk Dictionary.

Occitan

Etymology

From Latin minus.

Pronunciation

• Audio:

  (file)

Adverb

mens

1. less

   Antonyms: mai, pus

Derived terms

• almens
• mai o mens
• pasmens

Old Norse

Noun

mens

1. indefinite genitive singular of men

Swedish

Etymology 1

Syncopic form of medans, in turn a colloquial form of medan (“while”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈmɛnːs/
• Rhymes: -ɛnːs
• Homophone: mäns

Conjunction

mens

1. (colloquial) while

   Synonyms: medan, (colloquial) medans

   Jag dukar fram frukost mens du duschar.

   I’ll arrange breakfast while you take a shower.

Etymology 2

Clipping of menstruation.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈmɛnːs/
• Rhymes: -ɛnːs
• Homophone: mäns

Noun

mens c

1. menstruation, period

   Jag har mens

   I'm on my period

Declension

Declension of mens

		nominative	genitive
singular	indefinite	mens	mens
	definite	mensen	mensens
plural	indefinite	—	—
	definite	—	—

Derived terms

• mensblod (“menstrual blood”)
• menskopp (“menstrual cup”)
• mensskydd (“menstrual hygiene product”)

See also

• lingonvecka

Etymology 3

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈmeːns/
• Rhymes: -eːns

Noun

mens

1. indefinite genitive singular of men
2. indefinite genitive plural of men

References

• mens in Svensk ordbok (SO)
• mens in Svenska Akademiens ordlista (SAOL)
• mens in Svenska Akademiens ordbok (SAOB)

Tagalog

Etymology

From clipping of English menstruation or menses.

Pronunciation

• (Standard Tagalog) IPA^(key): /ˈmens/ [ˈmɛn̪s]
• Rhymes: -ens
• Syllabification: mens

Noun

mens (Baybayin spelling ᜋᜒᜈ᜔ᜐ᜔) (colloquial)

1. menstruation; period

   Synonyms: regla, sapanahon, buwanang dalaw

Derived terms

• magkamens
• magmens

Volapük

Etymology

(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /mens/

Noun

mens

1. people
   • 1940, “Pro yunanef Nedänik”, in Volapükagased pro Nedänapükans, page 30:

     Mens fidons, drinons, slipons e vobons.

     The people eat, drink, sleep and work.