mentula

See also: Mentula

English

Alternative forms

• mentule

Etymology

From Latin mentula.

Noun

mentula (plural mentulas or mentulae or mentulæ)

1. A penis.
   • 1974, Guy Davenport, Tatlin!:

     He, watchman of gardens, keeps evil away with his mentula up, warding off blight and thieves, garlanded with figs and grapes.

Anagrams

• nu metal, nu-metal, nutmeal, nü-metal

Latin

Etymology

From *mn̥tolā, a possibly Italo-Celtic term considering cognate Irish méadal (“paunch, fat belly”), where "the original meaning of the Irish and Latin words seems to have been 'projecting part of the body'". Ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *men- "to protrude, to project, to stick out", hence emineō (“I project”) and mōns (“mountain”). Others have suggested a connection to mens (“mind”) or menta (“mint stalk”)

Pronunciation

• (Classical Latin) IPA^(key): /ˈmen.tu.la/, [ˈmɛn̪t̪ʊɫ̪ä]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /ˈmen.tu.la/, [ˈmɛn̪t̪ulä]

Noun

mentula f (genitive mentulae); first declension

1. (vulgar) dick, cock (obscene word for the penis)

   Synonyms: penis, verētrum, (vulgar) mūtō

   Hyponym: (vulgar) verpa

   • c. 84 BCE – 54 BCE, Catullus, Carmina 29:

     Ut ista vestra diffututa mentula
     ducenties comesset aut trecenties?

   • 86 CE – 103 CE, Martial, Epigrammata IX.33:

     Maronis illic esse mentulam scito.

     Know that Maro's cock is found there.

Declension

First-declension noun.

	singular	plural
nominative	mentula	mentulae
genitive	mentulae	mentulārum
dative	mentulae	mentulīs
accusative	mentulam	mentulās
ablative	mentulā	mentulīs
vocative	mentula	mentulae

Derived terms

• mentulātus

Descendants

• ⇒ Vulgar Latin: *mintula (see there for further descendants)
• → English: mentula
• → French: mentule

References

• “mentula”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “mentula”, in Charlton T. Lewis (1891) An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
• mentula in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.