mentum

See also: -mentum

English

Etymology

From Latin mentum.

Noun

mentum (plural menta)

1. (anatomy) The chin.
2. (malacology) A chin-like projection below the mouth of certain mollusks.
3. (zoology) The central part of the labium in insects.
4. (botany) A projection in front of the flower in some orchids.

Derived terms

• mentoplasty
• submentum
• mentalis

Anagrams

• nummet

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Latin

Etymology

From Proto-Italic *mentom, from Proto-Indo-European *men-to-m, from *men- (“to project”).

Pronunciation

• (Classical Latin) IPA^(key): /ˈmen.tum/, [ˈmɛn̪t̪ʊ̃ˑ]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /ˈmen.tum/, [ˈmɛn̪t̪um]

Noun

mentum n (genitive mentī); second declension

1. chin
2. beard

Declension

Second-declension noun (neuter).

Case	Singular	Plural
Nominative	mentum	menta
Genitive	mentī	mentōrum
Dative	mentō	mentīs
Accusative	mentum	menta
Ablative	mentō	mentīs
Vocative	mentum	menta

Derived terms

• mentīgō

Descendants

• Italian: mento
• Portuguese: mento
• Vulgar Latin: *mentō;*mentō, *mentōnem
  • Old French: menton, mentun
    • French: menton
    • → Spanish: mentón
  • Old Occitan:
    • Catalan: mentó
    • Occitan: menton
• → English: mentum

References

• “mentum”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “mentum”, in Charlton T. Lewis (1891) An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
• mentum in Charles du Fresne du Cange’s Glossarium Mediæ et Infimæ Latinitatis (augmented edition with additions by D. P. Carpenterius, Adelungius and others, edited by Léopold Favre, 1883–1887)
• mentum 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) 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