Mensa

Meaning

Proper Noun

  • Mensa International, an organization for people with very high IQs.
  • A summer constellation of the southern sky, originally named after Table Mountain in South Africa. It lies between the constellations of Hydrus and Volans.

Origin

  • 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), 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.

Modern English dictionary

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