mental

¹

[men-tl]

adjective

1. of or relating to the mind.

   mental powers;

   mental suffering.

2. of, relating to, or affected by a disorder of the mind.

   a mental patient;

   mental illness.

3. providing care for persons with disordered minds, emotions, etc..

   a mental hospital.

4. performed by or existing in the mind.

   mental arithmetic;

   a mental note.

5. pertaining to intellectuals or intellectual activity.

6. Informal.,  slightly daft; out of one's mind; crazy.

   He's mental.

noun

1. Informal.,  a person with a psychological disorder.

   a fascist group made up largely of mentals.

mental

²

[men-tl]

adjective

1. of or relating to the chin.

mental

¹

/ ˈmɛntəl /

adjective

1. of or involving the mind or an intellectual process

2. occurring only in the mind

   mental calculations

3. Preferred form: psychiatric. affected by mental illness

   a mental patient

4. Preferred form: psychiatric. concerned with care for persons with mental illness

   a mental hospital

5. slang,  insane

mental

²

/ ˈmɛntəl /

adjective

1. Also: genial. anatomy of or relating to the chin

Other Word Forms

• mentally adverb

Word History and Origins

Origin of mental¹

First recorded in 1375–1425; late Middle English, from Middle French, from Late Latin mentālis, equivalent to Latin ment- (stem of mēns ) mind + -ālis -al ¹

Origin of mental²

First recorded in 1720–30; from Latin ment(um) “the chin” ( mentum ) + -al ¹

Word History and Origins

Origin of mental¹

C15: from Late Latin mentālis, from Latin mēns mind

Origin of mental²

C18: from Latin mentum chin

Example Sentences

Today, psychiatrists emphasize mental illness’s biological and hereditary origin, which forms the basis for many treatments.

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The guest editors kick off on Christmas Eve, with a programme from Bragg focused on the origins of the nativity story, as well as changing social attitudes to mental health.

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Cole's family told the BBC's Disclosure programme that they told police from the beginning Cole's disappearance wasn't typical behaviour - and that he had been struggling with his mental health.

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Catherine, who has also campaigned on mental health issues, draws parallels between the two conditions in her message.

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It can cause damage throughout the body, including to the heart, liver, bones and joints and in the most serious cases can lead to severe mental impairment and progressive neurological decline.

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Related Words

• cerebral 
• intellectual 
• psychiatric www.thesaurus.com
• subjective 

When To Use

What does mental mean?

Mental is an adjective that means relating to the mind.It is especially used in contrast with physical, which means relating to the body. Mental is commonly used in the context of psychological disorders or the care and treatment of people who have them. One of its most common uses is in the phrase mental health.Mental is sometimes used as a slang term with the same meaning as the informal sense of crazy, especially in the U.K. It’s typically used to describe a person or their behavior as being extreme or illogical in some way. Keep in mind, however, that when used in this way, words like crazy and mental may reinforce harmful stereotypes and associations with mental illness.Example: To be an elite athlete, you have to be physically strong, but you also have to perfect the mental aspects of your game.