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

They pushed so hard that the barrier was no longer physical, but mental and, as Hawke says, “neurological.”

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

The mental health nurse has become one of TikTok's most unexpected success stories and she admits "it's slightly overwhelming that everyone recognises me".

Read more on BBC

"Clever marketing schemes," Ms Jackson says, "magnesium is involved in areas people are willing to invest in: their sleep, digestion, mental health."

Read more on BBC

But a spate of high profile shootings, mental health outbursts on the subways and drugstores with items locked behind glass cases have created a sense of disorder for some.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

“Emman had a way of making people feel seen and heard, and she wasn’t afraid to share her own journey with mental health,” her family wrote in an Instagram post announcing the influencer’s death.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

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.