This page lists English translations of notable Latin phrases, such as veni vidi vici and et cetera. Some of the phrases are themselves translations of Greek phrases, as Greek rhetoric and literature reached its peak centuries before the rise of ancient Rome.
| Latin | Translation | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| habeas corpus | [we command] that you have the body [brought up] | A legal term from the 14th century or earlier. Refers to a number of legal writs requiring a jailer to bring a prisoner in person (hence corpus) before a court or judge, most commonly habeas corpus ad subjiciendum ("that you have the body [brought up] for the purpose of subjecting [the case to examination]"). Commonly used as the general term for a prisoner's legal right to challenge the legality of their detention. |
| habemus papam | we have a pope | Used after a Catholic Church papal election to announce publicly a successful ballot to elect a new pope. |
| habent sua fata libelli | Books have their destiny [according to the capabilities of the reader] | Terentianus Maurus, De litteris, de syllabis, de metris, 1:1286. |
| hac lege | with this law | |
| haec olim meminisse iuvabit | one day, this will be pleasing to remember | Commonly rendered in English as "One day, we'll look back on this and smile". From Virgil's Aeneid 1.203. Also, motto of Handsworth Grammar School, and the Jefferson Society. |
| haec ornamenta mea [sunt] | "These are my ornaments" or "These are my jewels" |
Attributed to Cornelia Africana (talking about her children) by Valerius Maximus in Factorum ac dictorum memorabilium libri IX, IV, 4, incipit.[1][2] |
| Hannibal ad portas | Hannibal at the gates | Found in Cicero's first Philippic and in Livy's Ab urbe condita Hannibal was a fierce enemy of Rome who almost brought them to defeat. Sometimes rendered "Hannibal ante portas", with similar meaning: "Hannibal before the gates" |
| haud ignota loquor | I speak not of unknown things | Thus, "I say no things that are unknown". From Virgil's Aeneid, 2.91. |
| Hei mihi! quod nullis amor est medicabilis herbis. | Oh me! love can not be cured by herbs | From Ovid's Metamorphoses, I, 523. |
| hic abundant leones | here lions abound | Written on uncharted territories of old maps; see also: here be dragons. |
| hic et nunc | here and now |
The imperative motto for the satisfaction of desire. "I need it, Here and Now" |
| hic et ubique | here and everywhere | |
| hic jacet (HJ) | here lies | Also rendered hic iacet. Written on gravestones or tombs, preceding the name of the deceased. Equivalent to hic sepultus (here is buried), and sometimes combined into hic jacet sepultus (HJS), "here lies buried". |
| hic locus est ubi mors gaudet succurrere vitae | This is the place where death delights in helping life | A motto of many morgues or wards of anatomical pathology. |
| hic manebimus optime | here we will remain most excellently | According to Titus Livius the phrase was pronounced by Marcus Furius Camillus, addressing the senators who intended to abandon the city, invaded by Gauls, circa 390 BC. It is used today to express the intent to keep one's position, even if the circumstances appear adverse. |
| hic mortui vivunt et muti loquuntur | here the dead live and the mute speak | inscription on several libraries |
| hic Rhodus, hic salta | Here is Rhodes, jump here | From the Latin version of "The Boastful Athlete" in Aesop's Fables[3] as formulated by Erasmus in his Adagia. An athlete brags about his impressive jump at a past event in Rhodes, whereupon he is challenged to reproduce it then and there, not merely boast. In other words, prove what you can do, here and now. Cited by Hegel and Marx. |
| hic sunt dracones | here there are dragons | Written on a globe engraved on two conjoined halves of ostrich eggs, dated to 1504. |
| hic sunt leones | here there are lions | Written on uncharted territories of old maps. |
| hinc et inde | from both sides | |
| hinc illae lacrimae | hence those tears | From Terence, Andria, line 125. Originally literal, referring to the tears shed by Pamphilus at the funeral of Chrysis, it came to be used proverbially in the works of later authors, such as Horace (Epistula XIX, 41). |
| hinc itur ad astra | from here the way leads to the stars | Written on the wall of the old astronomical observatory of Vilnius University, Lithuania, and the university's motto. |
| hinc robur et securitas | herefore strength and safety | Motto of the Central Bank of Sweden. |
| historia vitae magistra | history, the teacher of life | From Cicero's De Oratore, II, 9. Also "history is the mistress of life". |
| hoc age | do this | Motto of Bradford Grammar School |
| hoc est bellum | This is war | |
| hoc est Christum cognoscere, beneficia eius cognoscere | To know Christ is to know his benefits | Famous dictum by the Reformer Melanchthon in his Loci Communes of 1521 |
| hoc est enim corpus meum | For this is my Body | The words of Jesus reiterated in Latin during the Roman Catholic Eucharist. Sometimes simply written as "Hoc est corpus meum" or "This is my body". |
| hoc genus omne | All that crowd/people | From Horace's Satires, 1/2:2. Refers to the crowd at Tigellio's funeral (c. 40–39 BC). Not to be confused with et hoc genus omne (English: and all that sort of thing). |
| hodie mihi, cras tibi | Today it's me, tomorrow it will be you | Inscription that can be seen on tombstones dating from the Middle Ages, meant to outline the ephemerality of life. |
| hominem pagina nostra sapit | It is of man that my page smells | From Martial's Epigrams, Book 10, No. 4, Line 10; stating his purpose in writing. |
| hominem non morbum cura | Treat the Man, not the Disease | Motto of the Far Eastern University – Institute of Nursing |
| homo bulla | man is a bubble | Varro (116 BC – 27 BC), in the opening line of the first book of Rerum Rusticarum Libri Tres, wrote "quod, ut dicitur, si est homo bulla, eo magis senex" (for if, as they say, man is a bubble, all the more so is an old man)[4] later reintroduced by Erasmus in his Adagia, a collection of sayings published in 1572. |
| homo homini lupus | man [is a] wolf to man | First attested in Plautus' Asinaria (lupus est homo homini). The sentence was drawn on by Thomas Hobbes in De Cive as a concise expression of his views on human nature. |
| Homo minister et interpres naturae | Man, the servant and interpreter of nature | Motto of the Lehigh University |
| homo praesumitur bonus donec probetur malus | One is innocent until proven guilty | See also: presumption of innocence. |
| homo sine pecunia imago mortis[5] | a man without money is the image of death | |
| homo sum humani a me nihil alienum puto | I am a human being; nothing human is strange to me | From Terence's Heauton Timorumenos (The Self-Tormentor) (163 BC). Originally "strange" or "foreign" (alienum) was used in the sense of "irrelevant", as this line was a response to the speaker being told to mind his own business, but it is now commonly used to advocate respecting different cultures and being humane in general. Puto (I consider) is not translated because it is meaningless outside of the line's context within the play. |
| homo unius libri | a man of a single book | Attributed to Thomas Aquinas: «Hominem unius libri timeo» “I fear a man of a single book.” |
| honestas ante honores | honesty before glory | Motto of King George V School (Hong Kong) |
| honor virtutis praemium | esteem is the reward of virtue | Motto of Arnold School, Blackpool, England |
| honoris causa | for the sake of honor | Said of an honorary title, such as "Doctor of Science honoris causa" |
| hora fugit | the hour flees | See tempus fugit |
| hora somni (h.s.) | at the hour of sleep | Medical shorthand for "at bedtime" |
| horas non numero nisi serenas | I do not count the hours unless they are sunny | A common inscription on sundials. |
| horresco referens | I shudder as I tell | From Virgil's Aeneid, 2.204, on the appearance of the sea-serpents who kill the Trojan priest Laocoön and his sons |
| horribile dictu | horrible to say | cf. mirabile dictu |
| hortus in urbe | A garden in the city | Motto of the Chicago Park District, a playful allusion to the city's motto, urbs in horto, q.v. |
| hortus siccus | A dry garden | A collection of dry, preserved plants |
| hostis humani generis | enemy of the human race | Cicero defined pirates in Roman law as being enemies of humanity in general. |
| humilitas occidit superbiam | humility conquers pride | |
| hypotheses non fingo | I do not fabricate hypotheses | From Newton, Principia. Less literally, "I do not assert that any hypotheses are true". |