-mente

See also: mente, ménte, menté, and mentė

Galician

Etymology

From Old Galician-Portuguese, from Latin mens, mente.

Suffix

-mente

1. -ly (used to form adverbs from adjectives)

Derived terms

Galician terms suffixed with -mente

Interlingua

Etymology

From Latin mente, ablative singular of mēns (“mind”).

Suffix

-mente

1. Used to form adverbs from adjectives; compare the English equivalents -wise, -ly, and -ally.

   physicamente (“physically”)

Usage notes

After a final -c the vowel -a- is inserted, e.g. physicamente (note use of physica rather than physic; *physicmente would be incorrect)

Derived terms

Interlingua terms suffixed with -mente

Italian

Etymology

From Latin mente, ablative singular of mēns (“mind”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *méntis (“thought”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈmen.te/
• Rhymes: -ente
• Hyphenation: -mén‧te

Suffix

-mente

1. (productive) used to form adverbs from adjectives; -wise, -ly, -ally

Usage notes

• Because the suffix originates as a reinterpretation of the Latin feminine noun form mente in ablatival locutions [such as clārā mente (literally “with a clear mind”), whence Italian chiaramente]; if the root adjective ends in -o, in formation of the adverb it is employed in its feminine singular form.

Examples:

‎chiara (“clear”) + ‎-mente → ‎chiaramente (“clearly”)

‎fisica (“physical”) + ‎-mente → ‎fisicamente (“physically”)

‎stupida (“stupid”, “foolish”) + ‎-mente → ‎stupidamente (“stupidly”, “foolishly”)

• Adjectives ending in -e, not distinguishing masculine and feminine forms, simply have the suffix attached to the singular form.

Example:

‎grande (“great”) + ‎-mente → ‎grandemente (“greatly”)

• When the root adjective ends in -le, -lo, -re or -ro, the suffix is attached directly to the consonant and the final vowel of the adjective is dropped.

Examples:

‎speciale (“special”) + ‎-mente → ‎specialmente (“especially”, “particularly”)

‎celere (“swift”) + ‎-mente → ‎celermente (“swiftly”)

• Terms derived with this suffix are invariably stressed on the penultimate.

Derived terms

Italian terms suffixed with -mente

• battaglievolmente
• disprezzevolmente
• giochevolmente
• trascorrevolmente

 

Neapolitan

Etymology

From Latin mens, mente.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /-ˈmɛntɐ/

Suffix

-mente

1. used to form adverbs from adjectives, compare English -ly, -wise

Portuguese

Etymology

From Old Galician-Portuguese, from Latin mente, ablative singular of mēns (“mind”).

Pronunciation

 

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /ˈmẽ.t͡ʃi/

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /ˈmẽ.t͡ʃi/
  • (Southern Brazil) IPA^(key): /ˈmẽ.te/

• (Portugal) IPA^(key): /ˈmẽ.tɨ/

• Rhymes: -ẽtɨ, -ẽt͡ʃi
• Hyphenation: -men‧te

Suffix

-mente

1. -ly; -ally (forms adverbs from adjectives)
   • 2000, J. K. Rowling, Harry Potter e o Prisioneiro de Azkaban [Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban] (Harry Potter; 3), Rio de Janeiro: Rocco, →ISBN, page 336:

     Francamente, vão acordar todo mundo!

     Frankly, you are going to wake up everybody!

Usage notes

-mente is always added to the feminine form of the adjective, e.g. fisicamente (note use of física rather than físico; *fisicomente would be incorrect)

-mente can be dropped from adverbs other than the last one in a sequence:

Ele escrevia rápida e freneticamente.

He was writing quickly and frenetically.

Derived terms

Portuguese terms suffixed with -mente

Spanish

Etymology

A dialectal modification of Old Spanish -miente, -mientre (compare Catalan -ment), from Latin mente, ablative singular of mēns (“mind”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈmente/ [ˈmẽn̪.t̪e] (additionally stressing the syllable of the underlying adjective)
• Rhymes: -ente
• Syllabification: -men‧te

Suffix

-mente (adverb-forming suffix)

1. -wise, -ly, in a specified way; forms adverbs from adjectives

   ‎normal (“normal”) + ‎-mente → ‎normalmente (“normally, usually”)

   ‎física (“physical”) + ‎-mente → ‎físicamente (“physically”)

   ‎común (“common”) + ‎-mente → ‎comúnmente (“commonly”)

   ‎loca (“crazy”) + ‎-mente → ‎locamente (“crazily”)

Usage notes

• Adverbs in -mente are formed from the feminine singular forms of adjectives. For example, nuevamente (“newly”) is formed from nueva (“new”), and comúnmente (“commonly”) is formed from común (“common”).
• Not all words ending in <-mente> are adverbs formed with this suffix. For example, vehemente and demente are both adjectives. In fact, adverb vehementemente does exist.
• If the adjective is written with an accent, then the adverb with -mente is written with an accent in the same place; hence comúnmente, rápidamente, and so on. Conversely, if the adjective is written without an accent, then the adverb with -mente is also written without an accent; hence lentamente, nuevamente, and so on.
• In a string of adverbs connected with a conjunction, -mente may be omitted from all but the last. "Vaga, rápida y descuidadamente"

Derived terms

Spanish terms suffixed with -mente

Further reading

• “-mente”, in Diccionario de la lengua española, Vigésima tercera edición, Real Academia Española, 2014