mental age

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noun Psychology.

the level of native mental ability or capacity of an individual, usually as determined by an intelligence test, in relation to the chronological age of the average individual at this level: a ten-year-old child with the mental age of a twelve-year-old; a mental age of twelve.

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Origin of mental age

First recorded in 1910–15

Words nearby mental age

mensuration, mensurative, menswear, -ment, mental, mental age, mental artery, mental block, mental cruelty, mental deficiency, mental disease

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2022

How to use mental age in a sentence

However much we gossip about heterosexual couples with large age gaps, we at least refrain from calling them sex offenders.
Freaking Out About Age Gaps in Gay Relationships Is Homophobic|Samantha Allen|January 9, 2015|DAILY BEAST
In straight relationships with an age gap, words like ‘gold-digger’ and ‘trophy wife’ get thrown around.
Freaking Out About Age Gaps in Gay Relationships Is Homophobic|Samantha Allen|January 9, 2015|DAILY BEAST
Doctors have long wrestled with the age of consent when it comes to mature adolescents.
Should Teens Have The Right To Die?|Brandy Zadrozny|January 8, 2015|DAILY BEAST
You have to acknowledge your age and position in life, for me quite a lot of those emotionally fueled songs were hormone songs.
Belle & Sebastian Aren’t So Shy Anymore|James Joiner|January 7, 2015|DAILY BEAST

The copilot on Flight 8501 was Remi Emmanuel Piesel, 46, who despite his age had just 2,275 hours of flying experience.
Annoying Airport Delays Might Prevent You From Becoming the Next AirAsia 8501|Clive Irving|January 6, 2015|DAILY BEAST
Here began indeed, in the drab surroundings of the workshop, in the silent mystery of the laboratory, the magic of the new age.
The Unsolved Riddle of Social Justice|Stephen Leacock
The Rev. Alonzo Barnard, seventy-one years of age, accompanied by his daughter, was present.
Among the Sioux|R. J. Creswell
In a warlike age this peacefulness of a monarch was the great and supernatural phenomenon.
Solomon and Solomonic Literature|Moncure Daniel Conway
He began his military career at the age of 11, and continued in the service nearly 60 years.
The Every Day Book of History and Chronology|Joel Munsell
His hair was darker—almost brown save at the temples, where age had faded it to an ashen colour.
St. Martin's Summer|Rafael Sabatini

British Dictionary definitions for mental age

mental age

noun

psychol the mental ability of a child, expressed in years and based on a comparison of his test performance with the performance of children with a range of chronological agesSee also intelligence quotient

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Medical definitions for mental age

mental age

A measure of mental development as determined by intelligence tests, generally restricted to children and expressed as the age at which that level is typically attained.

mental age

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Origin of mental age

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How to use mental age in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for mental age

Medical definitions for mental age