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   The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language: Fourth Edition.  2000.
 

Appendix I

Indo-European Roots
 
ENTRY:men-1
DEFINITION:To think; with derivatives referring to various qualities and states of mind and thought.
Derivatives include mind, mention, automatic, mania, money, monster, mosaic, music, and amnesia.
   I. Zero-grade form *m-. 1. Suffixed form *m-ti-. a. mind, from Old English gemynd, memory, mind, from Germanic *ga-mundi- (*ga-, intensive prefix; see kom); b. mental1; ament2, dement, from Latin mns (stem ment-), mind; c. mention, from Latin menti, remembrance, mention. 2. Suffixed form *m-to-. automatic, from Greek -matos, “willing.” 3. Suffixed form *m-yo-. a. maenad, from Greek mainesthai, to be mad; b. Ahriman, from Avestan mainiiu, spirit. 4a. mania, maniac, manic, from Greek mani, madness; b. balletomane, from Greek -mans, ardent admirer.
   II. Full-grade form *men-. 1. Suffixed form *men-ti-. a. minnesinger, from Old High German minna, love; b. minikin, from Middle Dutch minne, love. Both a and b from Germanic *minthj. 2a. memento, from Latin reduplicated form meminisse, to remember; b. comment, from Latin comminsc, to contrive by thought (com-, intensive prefix; see kom); c. reminiscent, from Latin reminsc, to recall, recollect (re-, again, back; see re-); d. possibly Latin Minerva, name of the goddess of wisdom: Minerva. 3a. Mentor, from Greek Mentr, Mentor, man's name (probably meaning “adviser”); b. –mancy, mantic, mantis, from Greek mantis, seer (vocalism obscure). 4. mandarin, mantra, from Sanskrit mantra, counsel, prayer, hymn. 5. Suffixed form men-es-. Eumenides, from Greek menos, spirit.
   III. O-grade form *mon-. 1. Suffixed (causative) form *mon-eyo-. monish, monition, monitor, monster, monument, muster; admonish, demonstrate, premonition, summon, from Latin monre, to remind, warn, advise. 2. Suffixed o-grade form *mon-twa. mosaic, Muse, museum, music, from Greek Mousa, a Muse.
   IV. Extended form *mn-, contracted from *mna-. 1. amnesia, amnesty, anamnesis, from Greek reduplicated form mimnskein, to remember. 2. mnemonic, from Greek mnmn, mindful. 3. Mnemosyne, from Greek mnm, memory.
   V. Indo-European verb phrase *mens dh-, “to set mind” (*dh-, to put; see dh-), underlying compound noun *ms-dh-. Ahura Mazda, Mazdaism, Ormazd, from Avestan mazd-, wise. (Pokorny 3. men- 726, mendh- 730.)
 
 
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition. Copyright © 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by the Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.

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