non compos


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non compos (mentis)

Not sane or mentally competent. The phrase is Latin for "not of sound mind." Based on the orders he's been giving lately, many believe him to be non compos. The judge ruled that she had been non compos mentis at the time, and thus could not be held legally liable.
See also: compo, non

non compos

(ˈnɑn ˈkɑmpos)
1. mod. out of one’s mind; non compos mentis. She is strictly non compos!
2. and non compos poopoo mod. alcohol intoxicated. That gal isn’t just drunk. She’s non compos poopoo.
See also: compo, non

non compos

Crazy; mentally incapacitated and therefore unable to be responsible for one’s speech or actions. This term is an abbreviation of the Latin non compos mentis, literally translated as “not master of one’s mind,” or “not of sound mind.” It dates from the seventeenth century and today is loosely used for irrational behavior, as well as surviving in legal terminology.
See also: compo, non
References in periodicals archive ?
There is also some solidifying of terms, for example non compos mentis persists in law in its sense and form as 'incompetent' in cases of testamentary aptitude.
The Lexical Prison: Impairment and Confinement in Medieval and Early Modern England
Bentwood who lives in the desert (which Gaitis illustrates with Mahleresque descriptions of the flora fauna and monsoons) is like Chance the Gardener pretty much non compos mentis.
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No, this was not a daft move by lawmakers who are non compos mends.
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group dynamics with his new piece, "Non Compos Mentis." The work features a large group, with a soloist, and shifts between surreal slowness and dynamic motifs.
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The term, probably derived in around 1676 from the Latin non compos mentis - not of sound mind - came top of a poll, ahead of the word love.
WE ALL LOVE A NINCOMPOOP; Word is the UK favourite
What is the meaning of the Latin term non compos mentis?
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