menta

See also: mentá, mentă, and -menta

English

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈmɛn.tə/
• Rhymes: -ɛntə

Noun

menta

1. plural of mentum

Anagrams

• Manet, Nemat, ament, ant'em, antem, manet, meant, menat, nemat-

Asturian

Verb

menta

1. first/third-person singular present subjunctive of mentir

Catalan

Etymology

Inherited from Latin menta.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): (Central, Balearic) [ˈmen.tə]
• IPA^(key): (Valencia) [ˈmen.ta]

• Audio (Barcelona):

  (file)

Noun

menta f (plural mentes)

1. mint (plant of the genus Mentha)
2. crème de menthe (liqueur flavoured with mint)

Hyponyms

• herba-sana d'aigua (“water mint”)
• menta bergamota (“orange mint”)
• menta borda (“applemint”)
• menta boscana (“horsemint”)
• menta de gat (“catnip”)
• menta pebrera (“peppermint”)
• menta verda (“spearmint”)
• poliol (“pennyroyal”)

Related terms

• mendastre

Further reading

• “menta”, 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
• “menta”, in Gran Diccionari de la Llengua Catalana, Grup Enciclopèdia Catalana, 2026
• “menta” in Diccionari normatiu valencià, Acadèmia Valenciana de la Llengua.
• “menta” in Diccionari català-valencià-balear, Antoni Maria Alcover and Francesc de Borja Moll, 1962.

Cimbrian

Alternative forms

• matak, méentag

Etymology

From Old High German mānitag, from Proto-West Germanic *mānini dag (literally “day of the moon”), a calque of Latin diēs Lūnae. Cognate with Dutch maandag, English Monday, German Montag, Icelandic mánudagur, Swedish måndag.

Noun

menta ?

1. (Luserna) Monday

References

• Patuzzi, Umberto, ed., (2013) Luserna / Lusérn: Le nostre parole / Ünsarne börtar / Unsere Wörter [Our Words], Luserna, Italy: Comitato unitario delle isole linguistiche storiche germaniche in Italia / Einheitskomitee der historischen deutschen Sprachinseln in Italien

Cornish

Etymology

From Latin mentha.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈmɛntə/

Noun

menta f

1. mint

Derived terms

• menta an dowr (“water mint”)
• menta aval (“apple mint”)
• menta riel (“pennyroyal”)
• menta wuwdhel (“spearmint, garden mint”)
• pubermenta (“peppermint”)

Mutation

Mutation of menta

unmutated	soft	aspirate	hard	mixed	mixed after 'th
menta	venta	unchanged	unchanged	fenta	venta

Note: Certain mutated forms of some words can never occur in standard Cornish.
All possible mutated forms are displayed for convenience.

Franco-Provençal

Etymology

Inherited from Latin menta.

Noun

menta f (plural mentes) (ORB, broad)

1. mint

References

• menthe in DicoFranPro: Dictionnaire Français/Francoprovençal – on dicofranpro.llm.umontreal.ca
• menta in Lo trèsor Arpitan – on arpitan.eu

Galician

Alternative forms

• amenta

Etymology 1

From Latin menta, mentha, from Ancient Greek μίνθη (mínthē).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈmɛnta/ [ˈmɛ̃n̪.t̪ɐ], /ˈmenta/ [ˈmẽn̪.t̪ɐ]
• Rhymes: -ɛnta, -enta

Noun

menta f (plural mentas)

1. mint (any plant in the genus Mentha in the family Lamiaceae)
2. spearmint (Mentha spicata)

   Synonym: hortelá

3. mint tea

Derived terms

• menta da cobra

Etymology 2

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈmɛnta̝/, /ˈmenta̝/

Noun

menta f (plural mentas)

1. whelk (Buccinum undatum)

   Synonym: bucio

2. periwinkle (Littorina littorea)

   Synonyms: caramuxo, mentiña, mincha

3. top sea snail (Clelandella miliaris)

   Synonyms: carlou, mentiña

References

• “menta”, in Dicionario da Real Academia Galega (in Galician), A Coruña: Royal Galician Academy, 2012–2026
• Seoane, Ernesto Xosé González; Granja, María Álvarez de la; Agrelo, Ana Isabel Boullón (2006–2022), “amenta”, in Dicionario de Dicionarios do galego medieval [Dictionary of dictionaries of Medieval Galician] (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega
• Barreiro, Xavier Varela; Guinovart, Xavier Gómez (2006–2018), “amenta”, in Corpus Xelmírez: corpus lingüístico da Galicia medieval [Corpus Xelmírez: linguistic corpus of Medieval Galicia] (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega
• Antón Luís Santamarina Fernández, editor (2006–2013), “menta”, in Dicionario de Dicionarios da lingua galega [Dictionary of Dictionaries of the Galician language] (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega
• Antón Luís Santamarina Fernández, editor (2006–2013), “amenta”, in Dicionario de Dicionarios da lingua galega [Dictionary of Dictionaries of the Galician language] (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega
• Antón Luís Santamarina Fernández, Ernesto Xosé González Seoane, María Álvarez de la Granja, editors (2003–2018), “menta”, in Tesouro informatizado da lingua galega (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega
• Rosario Álvarez Blanco, editor (2014–2024), “menta”, in Tesouro do léxico patrimonial galego e portugués (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega, →ISSN

Hungarian

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin menta, from Ancient Greek μίνθη (mínthē).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ˈmɛntɒ]
• Hyphenation: men‧ta
• Rhymes: -tɒ

Noun

menta (plural menták)

1. mint (any plant in the genus Mentha in the family Lamiaceae)

Declension

Inflection (stem in long/high vowel, back harmony)

	singular	plural
nominative	menta	menták
accusative	mentát	mentákat
dative	mentának	mentáknak
instrumental	mentával	mentákkal
causal-final	mentáért	mentákért
translative	mentává	mentákká
terminative	mentáig	mentákig
essive-formal	mentaként	mentákként
essive-modal	—	—
inessive	mentában	mentákban
superessive	mentán	mentákon
adessive	mentánál	mentáknál
illative	mentába	mentákba
sublative	mentára	mentákra
allative	mentához	mentákhoz
elative	mentából	mentákból
delative	mentáról	mentákról
ablative	mentától	mentáktól
non-attributive possessive – singular	mentáé	mentáké
non-attributive possessive – plural	mentáéi	mentákéi

Possessive forms of menta

possessor	single possession	multiple possessions
1st person sing.	mentám	mentáim
2nd person sing.	mentád	mentáid
3rd person sing.	mentája	mentái
1st person plural	mentánk	mentáink
2nd person plural	mentátok	mentáitok
3rd person plural	mentájuk	mentáik

Derived terms

• mentás

Compound words

• almamenta
• borsmenta
• csombormenta
• fodormenta
• lómenta
• macskamenta
• mocsárimenta
• polyákmenta
• zöldmenta

Expressions

• mezei menta
• vízi menta

Further reading

• menta in Géza Bárczi, László Országh, et al., editors, A magyar nyelv értelmező szótára [The Explanatory Dictionary of the Hungarian Language] (ÉrtSz.), Budapest: Akadémiai Kiadó, 1959–1962. Fifth ed., 1992: →ISBN.

Italian

Etymology 1

From Latin mentha, from Ancient Greek μίνθη (mínthē).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈmen.ta/
• Rhymes: -enta
• Hyphenation: mén‧ta

Noun

menta f (plural mente)

1. mint (plant and herb)
2. peppermint (confection)

Derived terms

• menta piperita
• verde menta

Further reading

• menta in Collins Italian-English Dictionary

Etymology 2

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈmɛn.ta/
• Rhymes: -ɛnta
• Hyphenation: mèn‧ta

Verb

menta

1. inflection of mentire:
   1. first/second/third-person singular present subjunctive
   2. third-person singular imperative

Anagrams

• -mante

Latin

Pronunciation

• (Classical Latin) IPA^(key): [ˈmɛn.ta]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): [ˈmɛn.ta]

Etymology 1

Perhaps a loan-word, possibly through Ancient Greek μῐ́νθη (mĭ́nthē), from an extinct (substrate) Mediterranean/south European language. See Armenian մանդակ (mandak) for more.

Mentha x piperita (peppermint) and Mentha pulegium (pennyroyal)

Alternative forms

• mentha, mintha

Noun

menta f (genitive mentae); first declension

1. the mint (plant)
   • 8 CE, Ovid, Metamorphoses 10.729:

     an tibi quondam femineos artus in olentes vertere mentas, […]

     (please add an English translation of this quotation)

Inflection

First-declension noun.

	singular	plural
nominative	menta	mentae
genitive	mentae	mentārum
dative	mentae	mentīs
accusative	mentam	mentās
ablative	mentā	mentīs
vocative	menta	mentae

Derived terms

• mentastrum
• mentiōsus

Related terms

• mentula

Descendants

Descendants

• → Catalan: menta
• → Cimbrian: menta
• → Galician: menta
• → Greek: μέντα (ménta)
• → Hungarian: menta
• → Italian: menta
• Old French:
  • French: menthe
    • Haitian Creole: mant
    • → Romanian: mentă
  • Norman: menthe
• →? Old Irish: minntus
  • Irish: miontas
• → Portuguese: menta
• → Proto-Slavic: *męta (see there for further descendants)
• → Proto-West Germanic: *mintā (see there for further descendants)
• → Sicilian: menta
• → Spanish: menta

Etymology 2

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

Noun

menta n

1. nominative/accusative/vocative plural of mentum

References

• “menta”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “menta”, in Charlton T. Lewis (1891), An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
• “menta”, in Gaffiot, Félix (1934), Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.
• Carl Meißner; Henry William Auden (1894), Latin Phrase-Book‎^[1], 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) 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
    

Portuguese

Etymology

From Latin menta, mentha, from Ancient Greek μίνθη (mínthē).

Pronunciation

 

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /ˈmẽ.tɐ/

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /ˈmẽ.tɐ/
  • (Southern Brazil) IPA^(key): /ˈmẽ.ta/

• (Portugal) IPA^(key): /ˈmẽ.tɐ/

• Rhymes: -ẽtɐ
• Hyphenation: men‧ta

Noun

menta f (plural mentas)

1. mint (any plant of the family Lamiaceae)
2. mint (flavouring extracted from the mint plant)

Synonyms

• hortelã

Further reading

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

Spanish

Etymology

From Latin menta, mentha (compare Catalan menta, French menthe, Italian menta), from Ancient Greek μίνθη (mínthē).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈmenta/ [ˈmẽn̪.t̪a]

• Audio (Colombia):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -enta
• Syllabification: men‧ta

Noun

menta f (plural mentas)

1. (botany) mint, peppermint (specifically mentha × piperita)

   Synonym: hierba buena

2. mint green (color/colour)

   menta:  

Derived terms

• chocolate de menta
• menta coreana
• menta de caballo
• menta de gato
• salsa de menta

See also

Colors in Spanish · colores (layout · text)

blanco	gris	negro
rojo; carmín, carmesí	naranja, anaranjado; marrón	amarillo; crema
lima	verde	menta
cian, turquesa; azul-petróleo	celeste, cerúleo	azul
violeta; añil, índigo	magenta; morado, púrpura	rosa, rosado

Further reading

• “menta”, 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