English → Latin
“mental” in Latin
mēnsmind; intellect, reason; reasoning, judgementanimuslife, life force, soul, vitality (that life-giving aspect which animates a thing); conscience, intellect, mind, reason, ingeniuminnate or natural quality, natural character; nature; disposition, temper, inclination; intelligence, natural capacitydēlectātiōdelight, pleasure, amusementsollersskilled, skilful, clever, dexterous, adroit, expert; ingenious, sagacious, clever, intelligent, inventivedocilitāsdocility; gentlenessfacultāsability to do any thing easily, skill, capacity, power; means, resources; opportunity, chancedīcōto say, talk, speak, utter, mention; to declare, state; to tell
The English word mental itself goes back to Latin mēns, through mentālis.
Riddle & Arnold A Copious and Critical English–Latin Lexicon, 1864
mental
mostly by genitive, mentis, animi or ingenii: mental delights, animi voluptates, or delectationes: sometimes Tac. (silent): to be condemned by a mental censure, tacita existimatione reprehendi: mental power, ingenium (talents, genius): sollertia (mental dexterity, practical genius): docilitas (power of learning, of improving): ingenii facultas (talent for a particular pursuit: ☞ not talents, collectively, which is ingenium): facultas with genitive (power to do anything; e.g., to speak, dicendi): mental powers, ingenium, facultates (Cic., De Invent., 1, 27, extr.): animi vis, virtus: hominis sollertia: to cultivate one’s mental power, animum mentemque excolere. To be a person of considerable mental power, ingeniosum esse, ingenio abundare.
Quick answer
- What is the Latin word for mental?
- The usual Latin words for “mental” are mēns, animus, ingenium; also dēlectātiō, sollers, docilitās. The right choice depends on the sense; see the distinctions below.
Entry from J. E. Riddle & T. K. Arnold, A Copious and Critical English–Latin Lexicon (rev. C. Anthon, New York: Harper, 1864), digitised by Fergus J. P. Walsh, CC BY-SA 4.0; Latin markup adapted by latindictionary.co.