DictionaryRoot: -al
English
-al
connected with
Forms
- -al
Origin
Borrowed through French and Latin from Latin -alis.
Note
English now adds it to new bases as well as retaining it in inherited borrowings.
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adjective
mental
Wildly irrational or unusual, in informal and sometimes offensive use.
Etymology
Mental originally describes things relating to the mind. The slang sense developed by narrowing this association to mental disturbance, then broadening it to extreme or irrational behavior.
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