# mental

Pronunciation: say "MEN-tuhl" /ˈmɛn.təl/

## Adjective

1. Of, relating to, or happening in the mind, such as thoughts, memories, and the mind's processes.
   - Simple: Happening in your mind or about your mind, like thoughts and memories.
   - _He ran through a quick mental checklist before the interview._
   - _Years later, she could still call up a vivid mental image of her grandmother's kitchen._
2. Relating to illness of the mind, or to the care and treatment of people who have such an illness.
   - Simple: About illness of the mind, or about caring for people who have it.
   - _The clinic screens new patients for common mental disorders such as depression and anxiety._
   - _After the accident he struggled with his mental health for years._
3. Involving thinking and the intellect, as opposed to physical activity or to feelings.
   - Simple: Using your brain and thinking, not your body or your feelings.
   - _Air traffic control is demanding work, but the strain is mental rather than physical._
   - _She balanced the mental labor of coding with long evening runs._
4. Affected by a disorder of the mind; insane, mad, or crazy. *(colloquial, Australia, Canada, Ireland, New Zealand, UK)*
   - Simple: Crazy, or having a sickness of the mind.
   - _The neighbors said he'd gone mental, talking to himself in the garden at all hours._
   - _You'd have to be mental to swim in the sea in January._
5. Extremely enjoyable or exciting, especially in a wild or frenetic way. *(colloquial, Australia, Ireland, New Zealand, UK)*
   - Simple: Very fun and exciting, in a wild and crazy way.
   - _The gig in Manchester was absolutely mental, the best night of the tour._
   - _Our week in Ibiza was mental: we danced on the beach every night and loved every minute._
6. Relating to telepathic or mind-reading powers, such as those described in science fiction.
   - Simple: About powers of the mind, like reading thoughts or sending them to other people.
   - _The novel's protagonist establishes mental contact with her captors before she ever sees them._
   - _In the novel, the colonists slowly develop mental powers that let them share thoughts across great distances._
7. Belonging to the realm of spirit or ideas rather than that of physical matter.
   - Simple: About ideas, the mind, or the spirit, not physical things you can touch.
   - _Idealist philosophers hold that reality is fundamentally mental rather than material._
   - _Some philosophers divide reality into two kinds of substance, mental and physical, and ask how the two interact._

## Noun

8. A person's state of mind; an ellipsis of 'mental state'. *(slang)*
   - Simple: Your state of mind. A short, casual word for mental state.
   - _Daily runs and time off social media did wonders for her mental._
   - _He said the constant travel was wrecking his mental, so he quit the tour._
9. An offensive term for a person with an intellectual disability. *(offensive, India)*
   - Simple: A very unkind and insulting name for a person with an intellectual disability.
   - _Witnesses heard the man shout that his neighbor was a mental before the fight broke out._
   - _She winced when her grandfather called the children at the special school next door mentals._

## Other meanings

- (adjective) Relating to the chin or the median part of the lower jaw.
- (adjective) Relating to a chinlike or liplike structure, such as the mentum of an insect or flower.
- (noun) A plate or scale covering the chin, or mentum, of a fish or reptile.

## Origin

Came into English from Middle French mental. Its source is Late Latin mentalis, made from mens ("mind, disposition; heart, soul") and -alis, a suffix that forms adjectives.

Source: DictionaryAI, https://dictionaryai.com/define/mental (written from Wiktionary data, CC BY-SA 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).