mensa

¹ American  

[men-suh] / ˈmɛn sə /

noun

plural

mensas, mensae,

genitive

Mensae

1. Also called altar stone.  Also called altar slab,.  the flat stone forming the top of the altar in a Roman Catholic church.

2. (initial capital letter) the Table, a southern constellation near Octans.

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Mensa ² American  

[men-suh] / ˈmɛn sə /

noun

1. an international fellowship organization for people with IQ's in the top 2 percent of the general population.

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Mensa ¹ British  

/ ˈmɛnsə /

noun

1. a faint constellation in the S hemisphere lying between Hydrus and Volans and containing part of the Large Magellanic Cloud

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Mensa ² British  

/ ˈmɛnsə /

noun

1. an international society, membership of which is restricted to people whose intelligence test scores exceed those expected of 98 per cent of the population

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Other Word Forms

• Mensan noun

Etymology

Origin of mensa¹

First recorded in 1685–95; from Latin mēnsa “table”

Origin of Mensa²

From the Latin word mēnsa table, symbolizing the original conception of the society, “a round table where no one has precedence”

Example Sentences

In mensa etiam succinctam faciens refectionem, quasi religiosus cum concitata surrectione silentium servans stando Deo gratias totiens quotiens devotissime persolvit.

From Henry the Sixth A Reprint of John Blacman's Memoir with Translation and Notes by James, M. R. (Montague Rhodes)

They resolve upon a voluntary separation from their husbands--a practical divorce a mensa et thoro--until peace with Sparta shall be proclaimed.

From Education: How Old The New by Walsh, James J.

Don't mensa, mensam me when I am talking most seriously to you!

From Clementina by Mason, A. E. W. (Alfred Edward Woodley)

This "separation" is really the direct descendant of the Canon law divorce a mensa et thoro, and the inability to marry which it involves is merely a survival of the Canon law tradition.

From Studies in the Psychology of Sex, Volume 6 Sex in Relation to Society by Ellis, Havelock

When you had obtained a divorce à mensa atque thoro, you would have had to appear by counsel before the House of Lords for a divorce à vinculo matrimonii.

From The Jest Book The Choicest Anecdotes and Sayings by Lemon, Mark