Word.ws English Dictionary

mensa

/ˈmɛnsə/

mensa noun: in planetary geology, a large mesa-like area of raised land.

Noun

mensa (plural mensae or mensas)

  1. In planetary geology, a large mesa-like area of raised land.
  2. The upper surface of an altar.
    • Some churches also have an altar stone, a separate stone set into the mensa containing a relic of a saint, although this is becoming extremely rare.1993, B. Don Taylor, The Complete Training Course for Altar Guilds, →ISBN, page 32

Proper noun (1) capitalized: Mensa

Mensa

  1. Mensa International, an organization for people with very high IQs.

Proper noun (2) capitalized: Mensa

Mensa

  1. A summer constellation of the southern sky, originally named after Table Mountain in South Africa. It lies between the constellations of Hydrus and Volans.

Forms of mensa

pluralmensae
pluralmensas

Origin of mensa

Learned borrowing from Latin mēnsa (“table, altar”). Doublet of mesa.

From Latin mensa (“table”). The organization promotes itself as a "round-table" society in which differences in the backgrounds of its members are considered irrelevant.

From Mons Mensae (mensa (“table”)), from Montagne de la Table. Originally named Montagne de la Table after Table Mountain in South Africa in 1756 by the French astronomer Nicolas Louis de Lacaille. By 1763 this had been Latinised as Mons Mensae. In 1922 the International Astronomical Union shortened this to Mensa.

Words formed from mensa

Phrases with mensa

Words that rhyme with mensa

Questions about mensa

What does mensa mean?
Mensa means in planetary geology, a large mesa-like area of raised land.
What part of speech is mensa?
Mensa can be a noun or a proper noun.
How do you pronounce mensa?
Mensa is pronounced /ˈmɛnsə/.
What is the plural of mensa?
The plural of mensa is mensae.

Words near mensa in the dictionary

  1. menpo
  2. menqach
  3. Menrva
  4. mens
  5. mens rea
  6. mensa
  7. mensae
  8. Mensah
  9. Mensahs
  10. mensal
  11. Mensalão

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: mensa (page history and authors); Mensa (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

Last updated:

Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-mensa.wav.

Cite this entry: “mensa.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/mensa. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.