mental

• IPA^(key): /ˈmɛn.təl/
• IPA^(key): [ˈmɛɾ̃əl], [ˈmɛnəl]

• Audio (US):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɛntəl

Borrowing from Middle French mental, from Late Latin mentālis, from mēns (“mind, disposition; heart, soul”) +‎ -ālis (“-al”, adjectival suffix).

mental (comparative more mental, superlative most mental)

1. (relational) Of or relating to the mind or specifically the total emotional and intellectual response of an individual to external reality.
   1. Occurring or experienced in the mind.
      • 1907 August, Robert W[illiam] Chambers, “The Unexpected”, in The Younger Set, New York, N.Y.: D. Appleton & Company, →OCLC, page 240:

        I don't mean all of your friends—only a small proportion—which, however, connects your circle with that deadly, idle, brainless bunch—the insolent chatterers at the opera, […], the neurotic victims of mental cirrhosis, the jewelled animals whose moral code is the code of the barnyard—!

      Synonyms: inner, psychological

   2. Relating to the mind, its activity, or its products as an object of study.

      mental science

   3. Of or relating to intellectual as contrasted with emotional activity.

      mental acuity

   4. Of, relating to, or being intellectual as contrasted with overt physical activity.
      • 2013 July 19, Ian Sample, “Irregular bedtimes may affect children's brains”, in The Guardian Weekly, volume 189, number 6, page 34:

        Irregular bedtimes may disrupt healthy brain development in young children, according to a study of intelligence and sleeping habits.  ¶ Going to bed at a different time each night affected girls more than boys, but both fared worse on mental tasks than children who had a set bedtime, researchers found.

      Synonym: ideological

   5. Relating to spirit or idea as opposed to matter.
      • the distinction between physical things and mental ideas
2. Of, relating to, or affected by a psychiatric disorder.

   a mental patient

   1. (relational) Intended for the care or treatment of persons affected by psychiatric disorders.

      mental hospitals

   2. (colloquial, UK, Ireland, Australia, New Zealand, dated in the US, Canada, comparable) Mentally disordered; insane, mad, crazy.

      He is the most mental freshman I've seen yet.

      He went mental on us.

3. (colloquial, UK, Ireland, Australia, New Zealand, comparable) Enjoyable or fun, especially in a frenetic way.

   That was a mental party last night.

4. Of or relating to telepathic or mind-reading powers.

   mental telepathy

mental (plural mentals)

1. (slang) State of mind; ellipsis of mental state.

   y'all need to fix your mentals

2. (India, offensive) A mentally challenged person.

c. 1727, from Latin mentum (“the chin”) +‎ -al.

mental (not comparable)

1. (anatomy, relational) Of or relating to the chin or median part of the lower jaw, genial.

   Synonyms: genial, genian

   the mental nerve, the mental region

2. (biology, relational) Of or relating to the chinlike or liplike structure.

mental (plural mentals)

1. (zootomy) A plate or scale covering the mentum or chin of a fish or reptile.

• “mental”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.
• “mental”, in Merriam-Webster.com Online Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster, 1996–present.

• “mental”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.
• William Dwight Whitney, Benjamin E[li] Smith, editors (1911), “mental”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., →OCLC.

• mantel, Lament., lament, mantle, Mantel, manlet, Mantle

From Late Latin mentālis from Latin mēns; equivalent to mente +‎ -al.

• IPA^(key): /menˈtal/ [mẽn̪ˈt̪al]
• Rhymes: -al
• Syllabification: men‧tal

mental (epicene, plural mentales)

1. mental

• mente

Borrowed from Late Latin mentālis, from Latin mēns; equivalent to ment +‎ -al.

• IPA^(key): (Central, Balearic) [mənˈtal]
• IPA^(key): (Valencia) [menˈtal]

• Audio (Barcelona):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -al
• Hyphenation: men‧tal

mental m or f (masculine and feminine plural mentals)

1. mental

• mentalitat
• mentalment

• ment

• “mental”, in Diccionari de la llengua catalana [Dictionary of the Catalan Language] (in Catalan), second edition, Institute of Catalan Studies [Catalan: Institut d'Estudis Catalans], April 2007
• “mental”, in Gran Diccionari de la Llengua Catalana, Grup Enciclopèdia Catalana, 2026
• “mental” in Diccionari normatiu valencià, Acadèmia Valenciana de la Llengua.
• Alcover, Antoni Maria; Moll, Francesc de Borja (1963), “mental”, in Diccionari català-valencià-balear (in Catalan)

Clipping of English mental hospital.

mental

1. mental hospital

mental

1. to send or commit to a mental hospital

From Latin mentālis.

mental (neuter mentalt, plural and definite singular attributive mentale)

1. mental (pertaining to the mind)

   Synonym: åndelig

   Antonym: fysisk

   Coordinate terms: psykisk, sjælelig

• “mental” in Den Danske Ordbog

Learned borrowing from Late Latin mentālis (“of the mind, mental”).

• IPA^(key): /mɑ̃.tal/

• Audio:

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• Audio (France (Vosges)):

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• Audio (France (Somain)):

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mental (feminine mentale, masculine plural mentaux, feminine plural mentales)

1. (relational) mind; mental

• Haitian Creole: mantal
• → Turkish: mantal

mental m (uncountable)

1. mind

   Elle a un mental d'acier. ― She has a mind of steel.

• “mental”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012

• lament, mêlant

From Late Latin mentālis, from Latin mēns; equivalent to mente +‎ -al.

• IPA^(key): /menˈtal/ [mẽn̪ˈt̪ɑɫ]
• IPA^(key): /mɛnˈtal/ [mɛ̃n̪ˈt̪ɑɫ]
• Rhymes: -al
• Hyphenation: men‧tal

mental m or f (plural mentais)

1. mental

• mentalmente

• mente

• “mental” in DIGALEGO - Dicionario de Galego, Ir Indo 2004, Xunta de Galicia 2013.
• “mental”, in Dicionario da Real Academia Galega (in Galician), A Coruña: Royal Galician Academy, 2012–2026
• Antón Luís Santamarina Fernández, Ernesto Xosé González Seoane, María Álvarez de la Granja, editors (2003–2018), “mental”, in Tesouro informatizado da lingua galega (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega

Borrowed from Latin mentālis.

• IPA^(key): [mɛnˈtaːl]

• Audio (Germany (Berlin)):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -aːl

mental (strong nominative masculine singular mentaler, not comparable)

1. mental

From Dutch mentaal, from Middle French mental, from Late Latin mentālis (“of the mind, mental”), from Latin mēns (“the mind”).

• (Standard Indonesian) IPA^(key): /ˈmɛntal/ [ˈmen̪.t̪al]
• Rhymes: -ɛntal
• Syllabification: men‧tal

mental (comparative lebih mental, superlative paling mental)

1. mental: of or relating to the mind or an intellectual process

mental (plural mental-mental)

1. mind

   Synonyms: batin, watak

From Betawi mental. Doublet of pental.

• IPA^(key): [mənˈtal]
• Hyphenation: men‧tal

mental

1. to bounce off

   Synonyms: terpelanting, terpental

2. to backfire

From Sundanese mental.

• IPA^(key): [mənˈtal]
• Hyphenation: men‧tal

mental (comparative lebih mental, superlative paling mental)

1. useless

• “mental”, in Kamus Besar Bahasa Indonesia [Great Dictionary of the Indonesian Language] (in Indonesian), Jakarta: Agency for Language Development and Cultivation – Ministry of Education, Culture, Research, and Technology of the Republic of Indonesia, 2016

Borrowed from English mental, from Middle French mental, from Late Latin mentālis, from mēns (“mind, disposition; heart, soul”) +‎ -ālis (“-al”, adjectival suffix).

• (English-based) IPA^(key): /ˈmentəl/ [ˈmɛn̪.t̪əl]

  • Audio (Malaysia):

    (file)

  • Rhymes: -təl, -əl

• (Standard Literary) IPA^(key): /ˈmental/ [ˈmen̪.t̪al]

  • Audio (Malaysia):

    (file)

  • Rhymes: -tal, -al
• Hyphenation: men‧tal

mental (Jawi spelling مينتل, comparative lebih mental, superlative paling mental)

1. Mental:
   1. Relating to the mind, thought or intellectual processes.
   2. (informal) Not sane; crazy, insane.

      Synonym: gila

• "mental" in Pusat Rujukan Persuratan Melayu (PRPM) [Malay Literary Reference Centre (PRPM)] (in Malay), Kuala Lumpur: Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka, 2017

Borrowed from Latin mentalis, from mens.

mental (neuter singular mentalt, definite singular and plural mentale)

1. mental

• “mental” in The Bokmål Dictionary.

Borrowed from Latin mentalis, from mens.

mental (neuter singular mentalt, definite singular and plural mentale)

1. mental

• “mental” in The Nynorsk Dictionary.

• (Masovia):
  • (Far Masovian) IPA^(key): [ˈmɛn.tal]

From medal.

mental m inan

1. (Far Masovian) alternative form of medal

From motyl.

mental m animal

1. (Far Masovian) alternative form of motyl

• Wojciech Grzegorzewicz (1894), “mental”, in “O języku ludowym w powiecie przasnyskim”, in Sprawozdania Komisji Językowej Akademii Umiejętności (in Polish), volume 5, Krakow: Akademia Umiejętności, page 114

Borrowed from Late Latin mentālis, from Latin mēns. By surface analysis, mente +‎ -al.

• Rhymes: (Portugal) -al, (Brazil) -aw
• Hyphenation: men‧tal

mental m or f (plural mentais, not comparable)

1. mental

• mentalmente

• mente

• “mental”, in Dicionário Aulete Digital (in Portuguese), Rio de Janeiro: Lexikon Editora Digital, 2008–2026
• “mental”, in Dicionário Priberam da Língua Portuguesa (in Portuguese), Lisbon: Priberam, 2008–2026

mental m or n (feminine singular mentală, masculine plural mentali, feminine/neuter plural mentale)

1. alternative form of mintal

Borrowed from Late Latin mentālis, from Latin mēns; equivalent to mente +‎ -al.

• IPA^(key): /menˈtal/ [mẽn̪ˈt̪al]
• Rhymes: -al
• Syllabification: men‧tal

mental m or f (masculine and feminine plural mentales)

1. mental

• “mental”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.8.1, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 15 December 2025

Borrowed from Late Latin mentalis, from Latin mens.

mental

1. mental, pertaining to the mind

• mentalpatient
• mentalsjuk
• mentalsjukhus

• mantel

• (Standard Tagalog) IPA^(key): /ˈmental/ [ˈmɛn̪.t̪ɐl]
• Rhymes: -ental
• Syllabification: men‧tal

Borrowed from English mental.

mental (Baybayin spelling ᜋᜒᜈ᜔ᜆᜎ᜔)

1. mental

Ellipsis of English mental hospital.

mental (Baybayin spelling ᜋᜒᜈ᜔ᜆᜎ᜔)

1. mental hospital

   Synonym: manikomyo

• “mental”, in Pambansang Diksiyonaryo | Diksiyonaryo.ph, 2018