menta (mentha), ae, f., = μίντη, mint, acc. to the myth, so called from Menthe or Minthe, a nymph who was changed by Proserpine into this plant, Ov. M. 10, 729; 8, 663; Plin. 19, 8, 47, § 159: ructatrix, Mart. 10, 48, 10: serpens, Col. poet. 10, 119.

—Prov.: decimatis mentham et rutam et omne olus, et praeteritis judicium, i. e. carefully attend to trifles and neglect weighty matters, Vulg. Luc. 11, 42; id. Matt. 23, 23.