LatinPhrasesUsedinEnglish

Quiscustodietipsoscustodes?

TherearequiteafewLatinwordsandphrasesthatappearinEnglish,usuallyinwrittenEnglishbut
sometimesinspokenEnglishtoo.Someofthemareusedmoreincertainareassuchaslaw,medicine,
businessetc.Generally,youdonotneedtolearnandusemanyLatinphrases,butitcouldhelpyouto
recognizethemwhenyouseethem.Herearesomeofthemostcommon.(NotethatmanyLatinphrases
areusedinothermainlyEuropeanlanguages.Soifyouspeakoneofthoselanguagesyoumaybe
familiarwithmanyifnotalloftheLatinphrasesonthispage.)
Latin

meaning

exampleorcomment

adhoc

formedordoneforaparticularpurpose Anadhoccommitteewassetuptooverseethe
only
matter.

adnauseam repeatingorcontinuingtothepointof
boredom

Theapparentrisksofsecondarysmokinghave
beendebatedadnauseam.

bonafide

genuine;real

Onlybonafidemembersoftheclubmayuse
theclubhouse.

caveat
emptor

letthebuyerbeware

Theprinciplethatthebuyerisresponsiblefor
checkingthequalityandsuitabilityofgoods
beforeapurchaseismade.

circa;c.

around;approximately

Thehousewasbuiltcirca1870.

coitus
interruptus

interruptedcongress;abortingsexual
intercoursepriortoejaculation

Coitusinterruptusistheonlyformofbirth
controlthatsomereligionsallow.

compos
mentis

incontrolofthemind(oftenused
ironically)

PleasecallmebacklaterwhenI'mcompos
mentis.

defacto

infact;inreality

AlthoughtheEmperorwastheheadofstate,
thedefactorulerofJapanwastheShogun.

ergo

therefore

cogitoergosum

erratum

error;mistake

Listsoferrorsfromapreviouspublicationare
oftenmarked"errata"(theplural,meaning
errors).

etcetera;etc andtherest;andsoon;andmore

Weurgentlyneedtobuymedicalequipment,
drugsetcetera.

exgratia

fromkindnessorgrace(without
recognizinganyliabilityorlegal
obligation)

Theyreceivedanundisclosedexgratia
payment.

exlibris

fromthebooks;fromthelibrary

Inthefrontofabook:ExLibrisJohnBrown

habeas
corpus

acourtorderinstructingthataperson Therightofhabeascorpushaslongbeen
underarrestbebroughtbeforeajudge regardedasanimportantsafeguardof
[lit.wehaveabody]
individualliberty.

inloco
parentis

intheplaceofaparent

Teacherssometimeshavetoactinloco
parentis.

insitu

initsoriginalplace

Thepaintingshavebeentakentothemuseum
butthestatueshavebeenleftinsitu.

invitro

(inbiology)takingplaceoutsidealiving invitrofertilization
organism(forexampleinatesttube)

interalia

amongotherthings

Thereportcovers,interalia,computers,
telecommunicationsandairtravel.

per

foreach

Thispetrolstationcharges$5.00pergallon.

perannum; foreachyear
p.a.

Thepopulationisincreasingbyabout2%per
annum.

percapita

foreachperson

Thecountry'sannualincomeis$5000per
capita.

perse

initself/themselves;intrinsically

Thesefactspersearenotimportant.

postmortem examinationofabodyafterdeath;
autopsy

Thepostmortemrevealedthatshehadbeen
murdered.

prorata

Thecarrentalchargeis$50perdayandthen
prorataforpartofaday.

proportional;proportionally

quidproquo favouroradvantagegivenorexpected
inreturnforsomething

Similarto"titfortat","giveandtake"and"You
scratchmybackandI'llscratchyours."

re

Re:UnpaidInvoice

Ispoketothemanagerreyoursalaryincrease.

about;concerning;regarding

sinequanon essentialcondition;thingthatis
absolutelynecessary;"withoutwhich
not"

Wordsareasinequanonofspokenlanguage.

statusquo

existingstateofaffairs

Monarchiesnaturallywishtomaintainthe
statusquo.

terrafirma

dryland;thegroundasopposedtothe
airorsea

Shackletonandhismensetfootonterrafirma
afterthreeweeksatsea.

verbatim

inexactlythesamewords

Ihadtomemorizethetextverbatim.

versus;vs.;
v.

against

Whatarethebenefitsoforganicversus
inorganicfoods?

InthecaseofBushversusGore,thejudges
decided...

viceversa

theotherwayround

Mytelephoneservesme,andnotviceversa.

personanon unacceptableorunwelcomeperson
grata

Fromnowon,youmayconsideryourself
personanongratainthishouse.

SomeLatinSayingsandQuotations
Carpediem!"Seizetheday!"Anexclamationurgingsomeonetomakethemostofthepresenttimeand
notworryaboutthefuture.
Cogitoergosum."Ithink,thereforeIam."FrenchphilosopherDescartes'famousformulaof1641
attemptingtoprovehisownexistence.
Dulceetdecorumestpropatriamori."Itisasweetandgloriousthingtodieforone'scountry."From
Horace,OdesIII,2,13.UsedbyWilfredOwenforthetitleofapoemaboutWorldWarI,Dulceet
DecorumEst.
Festinalente."Hurryslowly."Anoxymoronsimilarto"morehaste,lessspeed".
invinoveritas"inwine,truth"(meaningthatadrunkmanrevealsthetruthabouthimself)
Nildesperandum."Donotdespair."
perarduaadastra"throughstruggletothestars"(mottoofBritishRoyalAirForceandothers)
Quiscustodietipsoscustodes?"Whoshallguardtheguards?"
quoderatdemonstrandum(QED)"whichwastobedemonstrated"Theabbreviationisoftenwritten
afteramathematicalproof.
Tempusfugit."Timeflies."
Veni,vidi,vici."Icame,Isaw,Iconquered."ThemessagesentbyJuliusCaesartotheRomanSenate
afterhisbattlein47BCagainstKingPharnacesII.

CommonLatinAbbreviations

A.D.(annodomini):intheyearoftheLord
adinf.,adinfin.(adinfinitum):toinfinity
A.M.(antemeridiem):beforemidday
B.A.(BaccalaureusArtium):BachelorofArts
B.D.(BaccalaureusDivinitatis):BachelorofDivinity
B.L.(BaccalaureusLegum):BachelorofLaw
B.Lit.(BaccalaureusLit[t]erarum):BachelorofLiterature(orLetters)
B.M.(BaccalaureusMedicinae):BachelorofMedicine
B.Mus.(BaccalaureusMusicae):BachelorofMusic
B.Phil.(BaccalaureusPhilosophiae):BachelorofPhilosophy
B.S.,B.Sc.(BaccalaureusScientiae):BachelorofScience
c.,circ.seecirca
cf.(confer):compare
D.D.(DivinitatisDoctor):DoctorofDivinity
D.G.(DeiGratia):BythegraceofGod

D.Lit.(DoctorLitterarum):DoctorofLiterature
D.M.(DoctorMedicinae):DoctorofMedicine
D.V.(Deovolente):Godwilling
e.g.(exempligratia):forexample
etal.(etalii,etalia):andothers
etc.(etcetera):andtherest,andsoforth
etseq.(etsequens,etsequentes,etsequentia):andthefollowing
id.(idem):thesame
i.e.(idest):thatis
lb.(libra):pound
M.A.(MagisterArtium):MasterofArts
M.D.(MedicinaeDoctor):DoctorofMedicine
M.O.(modusoperandi):methodofoperating
N.B.(Notabene):Notewell
no.(numero):bynumber
nonobst.(nonobstante):notwithstanding
nonseq.(nonsequitur):itdoesnotfollow
p.d.(perdiem):bytheday
p.a.seeperannum
Ph.D.(PhilosophiaeDoctor):DoctorofPhilosophy
P.M.(postmeridiem):aftermidday
P.S.(postscriptum):writtenafter
Q.E.D.seequoderatdemonstrandum
R.(rex,regina):King,Queen
R.I.P.(Requiescatinpace):Restinpeace
voxpop.(voxpopuli):thevoiceofthepeople
vs.seeversus

Source:http://www.englishclub.com/vocabulary/latinphrases.htm