English

Noun

mention ‎(plural mentions)

1. A speaking or notice of anything, usually in a brief or cursory manner. Used especially in the phrase to make mention of.
   • Bible, Psalms lxxi. 16

     I will make mention of thy righteousness.

   • Shakespeare

     And sleep in dull, cold marble, where no mention / Of me more must be heard of.

Translations

Verb

mention ‎(third-person singular simple present mentions, present participle mentioning, simple past and past participle mentioned)

1. To make a short reference to something.
   • 2013 June 1, “End of the peer show”, in The Economist, volume 407, number 8838, page 71:

     Finance is seldom romantic. But the idea of peer-to-peer lending comes close. This is an industry that brings together individual savers and lenders on online platforms. […] Banks and credit-card firms are kept out of the picture. Talk to enough people in the field and someone is bound to mention the “democratisation of finance”.

2. (philosophy, linguistics) To utter an word or expression in order to refer to the expression itself, as opposed to its usual referent.
   • 2006, Tony Evans, The Transforming Word: Discovering the Power and Provision of the Bible, Moody Publishers (ISBN 9780802480354), page 140

     I can illustrate this by mentioning the word lead. Now you have no way of knowing for sure which meaning I have in mind until I give it some context by using it in a sentence.

   • 2009, Lieven Vandelanotte, Speech and Thought Representation in English: A Cognitive-functional Approach, Walter de Gruyter (ISBN 9783110205893), page 124

     If the verbatimness view derives from the popular notion that DST repeats 'the actual words spoken', a second line of thought takes its cue from Quine's (1940: 23–26, 1960: 146–156) philosophical distinction between words which are “used” vs. words which are merely “mentioned”.

   • 2013, Richard Hanley, South Park and Philosophy: Bigger, Longer, and More Penetrating, Open Court (ISBN 9780812697742)

     If I said rightly, “'Niggers' is a seven letter word,” I would be mentioning the word, and when we write it, we use mention-quotes for this purpose (speech typically lacks quotes, except for the occasional air-quotes). If I said, rightly or wrongly, “Niggers are good athletes,” then I would be using “niggers,” not merely mentioning it.

Derived terms

• not to mention

Translations

Anagrams

• nontime

French

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin mentiō, mentionis.

Noun

mention f ‎(plural mentions)

1. mention (act of mentioning)
2. slogan

Related terms

• mentionner

Old French

Alternative forms

• mencion
• mension

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin mentiō, mentionis.

Noun

mention f ‎(oblique plural mentions, nominative singular mention, nominative plural mentions)

1. mention (act of mentioning)

See also

• mentevoir