Mentalとは 意味・読み方・使い方

語源 1

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

形容詞

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

派生語

名詞

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.

語源 2

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

形容詞

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.

派生語

名詞

mental (plural mentals)

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

参照

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

Further reading

• “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.

アナグラム

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