Mentaux

Mentaux is the masculine plural form of the French adjective meaning mental, referring to anything related to the mind or to mental processes. In standard French, adjectives agree with the nouns they modify, so mentaux appears in phrases such as états mentaux (mental states), troubles mentaux (mental disorders), and processus mentaux (mental processes). The singular forms are mental (masculine) and mentale (feminine); the feminine plural is mentales.

The term is used across several domains, notably psychology, psychiatry, and cognitive neuroscience, to discuss cognitive, emotional, and behavioral phenomena. In philosophy of mind, les états mentaux are central to debates about beliefs, desires, sensations, and intentions. In clinical contexts, expressions like troubles mentaux and capacité mentale are common, the latter referring to mental capacity or cognitive ability.

In English-language scholarship, mentaux is rarely used; mental is the standard term. When translating French texts, mentaux is rendered as mental or psychological, depending on the context. The word thus functions mainly as a linguistic bridge between French-language discussions of mind-related topics and their English translations.

Overall, mentaux serves as a versatile term in French to describe all matters pertaining to mental life, whether in scientific, philosophical, or everyday contexts. It highlights how French marks mind-related concepts through agreement with the nouns they modify, and it reflects the broader cross-linguistic focus on mental processes and health.