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

He believes football's 'win-at-all-costs' approach is having a detrimental effect on the mental health and performance of current and future referees.

Read more on BBC

That provides a drop-in centre, located inside Cardiff's Principality Stadium, which can provide mental health support to the local community.

Read more on BBC

Studies show that as well as smartphones interfering with sleep, which can affect mental health, heavy use of social media is linked with loneliness, depression and anxiety.

Read more on Barron's

Unhummable as the music is, its message has a spark: In the war for liberation, it’s OK to take mental breaks.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

All stops are mental closing stops unless otherwise noted.

Read more on MarketWatch

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.