English
amentia
Amentia comes from Latin āmentia ‘madness’, and goes back to āmēns ‘mad, insane’.
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEāmēns‘mad, insane’
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEāmentia‘madness’
- Englishearliest quotation 1922amentia
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed
Lineage
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEāmēns‘mad, insane’
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEāmentia‘madness’
- Englishearliest quotation 1922amentia
Earliest quotation: 1922, W. G. Aitchison Robertson, Aids to Forensic Medicine and Toxicology: “Cretinism is a form of amentia, which is endemic…”
A compound of ab ‘from, away from’ + mēns ‘mind’
Proto-Indo-European *h₂ep
Proto-Indo-European *h₂epó ‘off, away’
Proto-Italic *ap ‘from, off, away’
Latin ab ‘from, away from’
Proto-Indo-European *men- ‘to think, mind’
Proto-Indo-European *méntis ‘thought’
Proto-Italic *mentis ‘mind, thought’
Latin mēns ‘mind’
Every English word from Latin āmēns
Today it means
noun Mental impairment; state of being mentally handicapped.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Latin āmēns / amentia