Non compos mentis is a Latin legal phrase that translates to "of unsound mind": nōn ("not") prefaces compos mentis, meaning "having control of one's mind." This phrase was used in English law as early as the seventeenth century to describe people afflicted by madness, the loss of memory or ability to reason. == Usage == The status of non compos mentis applied to those who were not mad from birth, but became so later in life through no fault of their own.
Non compos mentis is a Latin legal phrase that translates to "of unsound mind": nōn ("not") prefaces compos mentis, meaning "having control of one's mind." This phrase was used in English law as early as the seventeenth century to describe people afflicted by madness, the loss of memory or ability to reason. == Usage == The status of non compos mentis applied to those who were not mad from birth, but became so later in life through no fault of their own.
Source: Wikipedia "Non compos mentis" · CC BY-SA 4.0
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