mendax

Latin

Etymology

Derived from Proto-Indo-European *mend- (“to fault”), whence also mendum and menda. Original meaning was "faulty" and was shifted towards "deceitful" under the influence of mentior (“I lie”).

Pronunciation

• (Classical) IPA^(key): /ˈmen.daːks/, [ˈmɛn̪d̪äːks̠]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /ˈmen.daks/, [ˈmɛn̪d̪äks]

Adjective

mendāx (genitive mendācis, comparative mendācior, superlative mendācissimus, adverb mendāciter); third-declension one-termination adjective

1. deceitful, lying, deceptive, untruthful, false, mendacious, feigned, not real.

Declension

Note that mendāce is an alternative form for the ablative singular mendācī

Third-declension one-termination adjective.

Number	Singular			Plural
Case / Gender	Masc./Fem.	Neuter		Masc./Fem.	Neuter
Nominative	mendāx			mendācēs	mendācia
Genitive	mendācis			mendācium
Dative	mendācī			mendācibus
Accusative	mendācem	mendāx		mendācēs	mendācia
Ablative	mendācī			mendācibus
Vocative	mendāx			mendācēs	mendācia

Synonyms

• (false, lying): dēceptōrius, fallāx, falsus, levis

Antonyms

• (antonym(s) of “false, untruthful”): sincērus, vērāx, vēridicus, vērus

Derived terms

• mendācitās
• mendāciter
• mendācium

Related terms

• mendāciloquium
• mendāciloquus
• mendāciunculum

Descendants

• English: mendacious
• Italian: mendace
• Portuguese: mendace, mendaz
• Spanish: mendaz

Noun

mendāx m (genitive mendācis); third declension

1. liar

Declension

Third-declension noun.

Case	Singular	Plural
Nominative	mendāx	mendācēs
Genitive	mendācis	mendācum
Dative	mendācī	mendācibus
Accusative	mendācem	mendācēs
Ablative	mendāce	mendācibus
Vocative	mendāx	mendācēs

References

• “mendax”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “mendax”, in Charlton T. Lewis (1891) An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
• mendax in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.
• Julius Pokorny (1959), Indogermanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, in 3 vols, Bern, München: Francke Verlag