mensa

¹ American  

[men-suh] / ˈmɛn sə /

noun

PLURAL

mensas, mensae

GENITIVE

Mensae

1. Also called altar stone.  Also called altar slab,.  the flat stone forming the top of the altar in a Roman Catholic church.

2. (initial capital letter)  the Table, a southern constellation near Octans.

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Mensa ² American  

[men-suh] / ˈmɛn sə /

noun

1. an international fellowship organization for people with IQ's in the top 2 percent of the general population.

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Mensa ¹ British  

/ ˈmɛnsə /

noun

1. a faint constellation in the S hemisphere lying between Hydrus and Volans and containing part of the Large Magellanic Cloud

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Mensa ² British  

/ ˈmɛnsə /

noun

1. an international society, membership of which is restricted to people whose intelligence test scores exceed those expected of 98 per cent of the population

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Other Word Forms

• Mensan noun

Etymology

Origin of mensa¹

First recorded in 1685–95; from Latin mēnsa “table”

Origin of Mensa²

From the Latin word mēnsa table, symbolizing the original conception of the society, “a round table where no one has precedence”

Example Sentences

"Henry's a genius. He's a member of Mensa. He taught himself to read aged 25 months."

From BBC

I can't count how many letters and emails I've gotten over the last decades from people who say, "I thought I was dumb, or the teachers told me my kids were dumb, or I applied for Mensa and I didn't get it. But then I learned about your theory and I explored things to find out what I was good at, what I was average at, what I was not good at. And that's been liberating for me or for my children or my grandchildren or whatever."

From Salon

Voter turnout was 60.9%, said the head of Ghana's electoral commission, Jean Mensa.

From BBC

When Pastor, enraged, kills a parishioner, he convinces the trusting Mensa that God uses sinners for his will and wants Mensa to help Pastor get rid of the body in the California desert.

From New York Times

Trump is bragging about passing the MOCA, a screening test for dementia, as if it made him MENSA, when it’s a test any kindergartener should pass.

From Salon