mentalism

M3E1N1T1A1L1I1S1M3

noun

The doctrine that physical reality exists only because of the mind's awareness.

OriginEnglish mental ← Middle French menta ← Late Latin mentāli →
UncommonScrabble 13
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Meanings

nounmentalism (countable and uncountable, plural mentalisms)

plural mentalisms

  1. countableuncountableThe doctrine that physical reality exists only because of the mind's awareness.
  2. countableuncountableActivities such as mind-reading, especially by performers.
  3. countableuncountableOppression on the basis of neurological type or perceived intelligence.

    The U.S. military's bombing of a Grenadan mental hospital struck me as significant in the type of target selected. […] Hearing accounts of this atrocity against Grenadan mental patients underscored for me the very real connections between imperialism, racism, and mentalism.

    1983 December 3, anonymous author, “"Mental Patients" Are People”, in Gay Community News, volume 11, number 20, page 3

Origin

  1. Proto-Indo-European*men-
  2. Proto-Indo-European*méntis
  3. Proto-Italic*mentis
  4. Latinmēns
  5. Proto-Indo-European*h₂el-
  6. Proto-Indo-European*h₂élisder.?
  7. Late Latinmentāli
  8. Middle Frenchmenta
  9. Englishmental
  10. Englishmentalism

From mental + -ism.

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

French mentalisme
  • mentalismedoctrine that physical reality exists only because of the mind's awareness
Polish mentalizm
  • mentalizmdoctrine that physical reality exists only because of the mind's awareness
Portuguese mentalismo
  • mentalismodoctrine that physical reality exists only because of the mind's awareness
Russian ментали́зм
  • ментали́зм (mentalízm)doctrine that physical reality exists only because of the mind's awareness
Spanish mentalismo
  • mentalismodoctrine that physical reality exists only because of the mind's awareness

Rhymes & wordplay

Anagrams

Simmental
Cite this entry
APA

mentalism. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/mentalism

MLA

“mentalism.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/mentalism. Accessed November 3, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “mentalism,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/mentalism.

Source: mentalism on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.