mentation

noun

men·​ta·​tion men-ˈtā-shən How to pronounce mentation (audio)
: mental activity

Example Sentences

Recent Examples on the Web And so this is often referred to as sleep mentation. Steven Strogatz, Quanta Magazine, 24 Aug. 2022 The various games advertised to improve memory and in certain cases stave off dementia—Lumosity and its like—have little or no power to improve memory, attention, or good mentation. John Crowley, Harper’s Magazine , 4 Jan. 2022 Most broadly, Neubauer said, dreams are a type of mentation, or mental activity, that occurs when people are asleep and generally consists of vivid, hallucinatory visual content that is often bizarre or has irregular narratives. Washington Post, 4 Nov. 2021 Scientists don’t actually know why humans experience sleep mentation, a fancy name for dreaming. Washington Post, 22 Aug. 2021 For millions of years before the emergence of humans, elephants — like their equally weighty, waterborne counterparts, whales — roamed and conversed along vast corridors of migration and mentation. New York Times, 9 July 2019 The rider cracked his helmet and had an altered mentation. Nico Savidge, The Mercury News, 29 June 2019 For millions of years before the emergence of humans, elephants — like their equally weighty, waterborne counterparts, whales — roamed and conversed along vast corridors of migration and mentation. New York Times, 9 July 2019 The rider cracked his helmet and had an altered mentation. Nico Savidge, The Mercury News, 29 June 2019 See More

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'mentation.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Word History

Etymology

Latin ment-, mens + English -ation

First Known Use

1850, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of mentation was in 1850

Dictionary Entries Near mentation

Cite this Entry

“Mentation.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/mentation. Accessed 26 Mar. 2023.

Medical Definition

mentation

noun
men·​ta·​tion men-ˈtā-shən How to pronounce mentation (audio)
: mental activity
unconscious mentation
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