Mind
The word mind has its origins in the Proto-Indo-European (PIE) root men- (to think). This root can be seen in many familiar words such as, for example, comment, demented, memento, mental, mention, and mentor. Less obviously, this root is the source of many other words, such as, for example, amnesia, amnesty, mania, mantra, monitor, monument, reminiscence, and summon.
Words from other languages with this PIE root include Sanskrit manas (mind, spirit), matih (thought), munih (sage, seer); Avestan manah (mind, spirit); Greek memona (I yearn), mania (madness), mantis (one who divines, prophet, seer); Latin mens (mind, understanding, reason), mentio (remembrance); Lithuanian mintis (thought, idea), Old Church Slavonic mineti (to believe, think); Russian pamjat (memory), and Old English gemynd (memory, remembrance, state of being remembered; thought, purpose; intention, conscious mind, intellect).
In particular, another word which has its source in this PIE root is mazda, an ancient word of the Avestan language (now Persian Farsi) meaning ‘wise’. In 1931, the name Mazda was chosen as the name of the first vehicle produced by what is now the Mazda automobile company. The company manager at that time, Jujiro Matsuda, chose the name not only because it sounded in Japanese like his last name but more importantly because he and the company wanted a name which would be a symbolic way to acknowledge peaceful interrelationships of eastern and western cultures. https://www.mazda.com/en/innovation/mazda-stories/mazda/behind/
The English word mind (that which feels, wills, thinks; the intellect) is from the late 12th century (sometimes known as the ‘century of learning’ as this was a time marked by the development of several major Western European universities—I would add that these universities were to a large extent based on the Islamic universities in neighboring Spain. The caps and gowns used today in university ceremonies are remembrances of the robes worn by the Islamic scholars. But I digress).
The English word mind comes from Old English gemynd (see above) from Proto-Germanic ga-mundiz, the source of Gothic muns (thought) and munan (to think), Old Norse minni (mind), and German Minne (love; originally memory, loving memory).
Note in these ancient words, the sense that mind is not only about ‘intellect’ or ‘thought’ but is also associated with ‘feeling’ and ‘remembrance’. Memories are ‘remembered’ because of their high levels of affect. We remember and think about things that we feel strongly about.
Currently, debate revolves around ‘where’ the mind is located. Clearly the brain is involved. Is the mind ‘in’ the brain? If we dissected someone’s brain, could be find their memory of a recent movie and how they felt about it? Is the mind ‘outside’ the brain and body? Do we participate ‘in mind’? Are thoughts and memories not only prompted by our senses and our experiences of the world, but found or projected into the world? A cursory review of the literature on this subject is ‘mind-boggling’. I will leave the philosophy and psychology and theology and so on regarding this topic to the experts. As my English friends would say, “Mind how you go!”
Reference: Online Etymological Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com/
Words from other languages with this PIE root include Sanskrit manas (mind, spirit), matih (thought), munih (sage, seer); Avestan manah (mind, spirit); Greek memona (I yearn), mania (madness), mantis (one who divines, prophet, seer); Latin mens (mind, understanding, reason), mentio (remembrance); Lithuanian mintis (thought, idea), Old Church Slavonic mineti (to believe, think); Russian pamjat (memory), and Old English gemynd (memory, remembrance, state of being remembered; thought, purpose; intention, conscious mind, intellect).
In particular, another word which has its source in this PIE root is mazda, an ancient word of the Avestan language (now Persian Farsi) meaning ‘wise’. In 1931, the name Mazda was chosen as the name of the first vehicle produced by what is now the Mazda automobile company. The company manager at that time, Jujiro Matsuda, chose the name not only because it sounded in Japanese like his last name but more importantly because he and the company wanted a name which would be a symbolic way to acknowledge peaceful interrelationships of eastern and western cultures. https://www.mazda.com/en/innovation/mazda-stories/mazda/behind/
The English word mind (that which feels, wills, thinks; the intellect) is from the late 12th century (sometimes known as the ‘century of learning’ as this was a time marked by the development of several major Western European universities—I would add that these universities were to a large extent based on the Islamic universities in neighboring Spain. The caps and gowns used today in university ceremonies are remembrances of the robes worn by the Islamic scholars. But I digress).
The English word mind comes from Old English gemynd (see above) from Proto-Germanic ga-mundiz, the source of Gothic muns (thought) and munan (to think), Old Norse minni (mind), and German Minne (love; originally memory, loving memory).
Note in these ancient words, the sense that mind is not only about ‘intellect’ or ‘thought’ but is also associated with ‘feeling’ and ‘remembrance’. Memories are ‘remembered’ because of their high levels of affect. We remember and think about things that we feel strongly about.
Currently, debate revolves around ‘where’ the mind is located. Clearly the brain is involved. Is the mind ‘in’ the brain? If we dissected someone’s brain, could be find their memory of a recent movie and how they felt about it? Is the mind ‘outside’ the brain and body? Do we participate ‘in mind’? Are thoughts and memories not only prompted by our senses and our experiences of the world, but found or projected into the world? A cursory review of the literature on this subject is ‘mind-boggling’. I will leave the philosophy and psychology and theology and so on regarding this topic to the experts. As my English friends would say, “Mind how you go!”
Reference: Online Etymological Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com/
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