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• mensa
  mensa

  noun

  the flat stone forming the top of the altar in a Roman Catholic church.
• Mensa
  Mensa

  noun

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

mensa

¹ American  

[men-suh] / ˈmɛn sə /

noun

• mensas,
  plural
• mensae,
  plural
• Mensae
  genitive

1. Also called altar stone, 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

Derived Forms

• Mensan
  noun

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• mensae
  plural
• mensas
  plural

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

See Examples For:

mensa Mensa mensae

There was nothing whatever ordained or assigned for his episcopal mensa, by which the bishop might live; for he had not even a house of his own.

From St. Bernard of Clairvaux's Life of St. Malachy of Armagh by Hugh Jackson Lawlor

At once O'Toole's face brightened, and with a shout of pride he reeled out, "Mensa, mensa, mensam, mensae, mensae, mensa."

From Clementina by A. E. W. (Alfred Edward Woodley) Mason

But perhaps it consoles her to think that she knows the genitive of mensa.

From Look Back on Happiness by Paula Wiking

You should have gone to the ecclesiastical court and there obtained against your wife a decree a mensa et thoro.

From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 8, Slice 5 "Dinard" to "Dodsworth" by Various

It is so named because of the regularity of its recurrence, the word mensa meaning a month.

From Sane Sex Life and Sane Sex Living Some Things That All Sane People Ought to Know About Sex Nature and Sex Functioning; Its Place in the Economy of Life, Its Proper Training and Righteous Exercise by H. W. (Harland William) Long

"I knew nothing about Mensa before the test, no preparation," he said.

From BBC ● Jan. 26, 2024

On his personal website, Polito wrote at length about his favorite topics, rarely failing to mention membership in the Mensa society for people with high IQs.

From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 7, 2023

Months later, he helped organize the Black Star Line Festival in Ghana, which drew 50,000 people and featured performances from Chance and Mensa along with Erykah Badu, T-Pain, Sarkodie and more.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 18, 2023

Across 18 tracks, Mensa explores culture, sobriety, Ghana, home and himself, leading to his most zealous work to date.

From Seattle Times ● Sep. 10, 2023

I used to fantasize about taking the Mensa test to prove that I wasn’t a total loser.

From "Wintergirls" by Laurie Halse Anderson

At once O'Toole's face brightened, and with a shout of pride he reeled out, "Mensa, mensa, mensam, mensae, mensae, mensa."

From Clementina by A. E. W. (Alfred Edward Woodley) Mason

The century writers777 make out of Dionysius Alexandrinus's epistle to Xistus, bishop of Rome, that the custom of the church of Alexandria in receiving the sacrament, was, ut mensae assisterent.

From The Works of Mr. George Gillespie (Vol. 1 of 2) by George Gillespie

In the religion of the family Ovid indeed has charmingly expressed it, perhaps on the authority of some lost passage of Varro296:— ante focos olim scamnis considere longis mos erat, et mensae credere adesse deos.

From The Religious Experience of the Roman People From the Earliest Times to the Age of Augustus by W. Warde Fowler