mind

The word 'mind' descends from Old English 'gemynd,' which meant primarily 'memory' and 'remembrance,' not the full range of consciousness the modern word covers.‌​‍​‍​‌​‍​‍​‍​‌​‍​‌​‍​‌​‌​‌​‌​‍​‌​‍​‍​‌​‍​‍​‍​‍​‌​‍​‍​‌​‍​‍​‍​‍ It comes from Proto-Germanic *gamundiz (memory), with the prefix *ga- (a collective or perfective marker, as in German 'ge-') and a root from PIE *men- (to think, to remember). The loss of the 'ge-' prefix during Middle English left 'mynd,' which broadened in meaning from 'memory' to 'the seat of thought and consciousness' — one of the most consequential semantic expansions in the history of English.

The PIE root *men- is one of the most prolific in the Indo-European family. Through Latin 'mens' (mind, genitive 'mentis'), it produced 'mental,' 'mentality,' 'mention' (to bring to mind), 'comment' (to think with), 'demented' (out of one's mind), and 'mentor' (one who makes you think — named after Mentōr, Odysseus's trusted adviser in Homer). Through Latin 'memor' (mindful), it produced 'memory,' 'remember,' 'memorandum,' 'memorial,' 'memoir,' and 'commemorate.' Through Latin 'monēre' (to warn, to advise — literally 'to make think'), it produced 'monitor,' 'monument,' 'admonish,' and 'premonition.'

Through Greek, *men- produced 'ménos' (μένος, spirit, force, passion), 'automat-' (from 'autómatos,' acting of itself — self-thinking), 'mania' (μανία, madness — thinking gone wrong), and 'mantic' (relating to prophecy — divinely inspired thinking). The philosopher's concept 'noumenon' relates to a different Greek root, but Aristotle's use of 'nous' (mind, intellect) occupies the same philosophical space that 'mind' would later claim in English.

Through Sanskrit, *men- produced 'manas' (मनस्, mind, thought, spirit), a central concept in Hindu and Buddhist philosophy — the faculty of thinking, the internal sense organ. The 'Manusmriti' (Laws of Manu) takes its name from 'Manu' (the thinking one, the first man), from the same root. The connection between 'mind' and 'man' is debated but phonologically plausible: PIE *man- (man, human) may be from *men- (to think), making 'man' literally 'the thinker.'

German 'Minne' (courtly love, remembrance) preserves the Old High German descendant of the same root, and 'Minnesänger' (love-singer) — the German troubadour tradition — is literally 'memory-singer' or 'love-remembrance singer.' Old Norse 'minni' meant both 'memory' and a ritual toast drunk in remembrance of the dead or the gods. The intimate connection between memory and love in the Germanic languages reflects the original sense of *men-: to hold something in the mind is to cherish it.

The modern English word 'mind' has absorbed so many functions — consciousness, intellect, will, memory, attention, opinion ('I've changed my mind'), sanity ('out of my mind'), intention ('I have a mind to') — that it has become one of the most semantically overloaded words in the language. Yet every one of these senses can be traced back to the original core: the act of thinking and remembering, the inner space where experience is held.