Etymology

dementia

D2E1M3E1N1T1I1A1

Today it means: A progressive decline in cognitive function due to damage or disease in the brain beyond what might be expected from normal aging. Areas particularly affected include memory, attention, judgement, language and problem solving. Full definition →

Latin dēmentia ← Proto-Italic *mentis ← Proto-Indo-European *méntis
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The story

  1. Proto-Indo-European*de
  2. Proto-Indo-European*déh₁
  3. Proto-Italic*dē
  4. Latindē
  5. Latindē-
  6. Proto-Indo-European*men-
  7. Proto-Indo-European*méntis
  8. Proto-Italic*mentis
  9. Latinmēns
  10. Latindēment-
  11. Latindēmentia
  12. English todaydementia

Borrowed from Latin dēmentia.

Words from the same roots

Latindēmentia all →

demency

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.