LATIN QUOTES AND EXPRESSIONS

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Many Latin expressions are used in books and in everyday English speech, and you will certainly find most those phrases listed and translated on my site. However, the existing body of Latin literature, both Classical and Medieval is extremely vast. There are many undiscovered gems of wit and wisdom, so I encourage you to study Latin :) The source for a quote is sometimes indcated, but one must remember that Latin quotations are often used as if they were anonymous maxims of universal wisdom. Unlike the collections of quotes that you will find on some other websites, these lines have been actually looked at more than once by someone who knows Latin. I am sure, however, that some typos have not been fixed, so do not assume that anything you find here is safe and good enough to be tattooed on your person! Always ask a Latinist before using a Latin quote for any permanent purpose.

This site also hosts a plethora of imporant resources about Latin, as well as some other languages. Most notably, there a list of legal Latin maxims. Elsewhere on this site there are Latin phrases used in medicine, heraldry, jewelry engravings, sundials and Latin love poems. There is even a motto generator that lets you create Latin phrases without knowing Latin!

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Nam et ipsa scientia potestas es - Knowledge is power. (Sir Francis Bacon)

Nascentes morimur - From the moment we are born, we begin to die

Natale solum - Native soil

Natura abhorret a vacua - Nature abhors a vacuum

Natura in minima maxima - Nature is the greatest in the smallest things

Natura nihil fit in frustra - Nature does nothing in vain

Natura, artis magistra - Nature, the mistress of art

Naturam expellas furca, tamen usque recurret - You can drive nature out with a pitchfork but she always comes back

Navigare necesse est - To sail is necessary

Ne cede malis - Yield not to evils

Ne nimium - Not too much

Ne plus ultra - No further. Impassable obstacle

Ne quid nimis - Nothing in excess. (Terence)

Nec laudas nisi mortuos poetas: tanti non est, ut placeam, perire - If only dead poets are praised, I'd rather go unsung

Nec mortem effugere quisquam nec amorem potest - No one is able to flee from death or love

Nec possum tecum vivere, nec sine te - I am able to live / I can live neither with you, nor without you. (Martial)

Nec verbum verbo curabis reddere fidus interpres - As a true translator you will take care not to translate word for word. (Horace)

Necesse est multos timeat quem multi timent - He must fear many, whom many fear. (Laberius)

Necessitas non habet legem - Necessity knows no law

Nemine contradicente (nem. con.) - With no one speaking in opposition. Unanimously

Nemine dissentiente (nem. diss.) - With no one disagreeing

Nemo ante mortem beatus - Nobody is blessed before his death. We never know what is future preparing for us!

Nemo autem regere potest nisi qui et regi - Moreover, there is no one who can rule unless he can be ruled. (Seneca)

Nemo dat quod non habet - No one gives what he does not have

Nemo gratis mendax - No man lies freely. A person with no reason to lie is telling the truth

Nemo hic adest illius nominis - There is no one here by that name

Nemo liber est qui corpori servit - No one is free who is a slave to his body

Nemo malus felix - No bad man is lucky. (Juvenal)

Nemo me impune lacessit - No one provokes me with impunity. (motto of the Kings of Scotland)

Nemo nisi mors - Nobody except death (will part us). (Inscription in the wedding ring of the Swedish Queen Katarina Jagellonica)

Nemo propheta in patria sua - No one is considered a prophet in his hometown/homeland

Nemo repente fuit turpissimus - No one ever became thoroughly bad in one step. (Juvenal)

Nemo risum praebuit, qui ex se coepit - Nobody is laughed at, who laughs at himself. (Seneca)

Nemo saltat sobrius nisi forte insanit - Nobody dances sober unless he's insane

Nemo saltat sobrius - No man dances sober

Nemo sine vitio est - No one is without fault. (Seneca the Elder)

Nemo surdior est quam is qui non audiet - No man is more deaf than he who will not hear

Nemo timendo ad summum pervenit locum - No man by fearing reaches the top. (Syrus)

Nervos belli, pecuniam. (Nervus rerum.) - The nerve of war, money. (The nerve of things.) (Cicero)

Nescio quid dicas - I don't know what you're talking about

Nihil ad rem - Nothing to do with the point

Nihil agere delectat - It is pleasant to do nothing. (Cicero)

Nihil aliud scit necessitas quam vincere - Necesssity knows nothing else but victory. (Syrus)

Nihil est ab omni parte beatum - Nothing is good in every part. (Horace)

Nihil est incertius volgo - Nothing is more uncertain than the (favour of the) crowd. (Cicero)

Nihil est miserum nisi cum putes - Nothing is unfortunate if you don't consider it unfortunate. (Boethius)

Nihil obstat - Nothing stands in the way

Nihil sub sole novum - Nothing new under the sun

Nihil tam munitum quod non expugnari pecunia possit - No fort is so strong that it cannot be taken with money. (Cicero)

Nihil - Nothing

Nil actum credens dum quid superesset agendum - Thinking nothing done, while anything was yet to do

Nil actum reputa si quid superest agendum - Don't consider that anything has been done if anything is left to be done. (Lucan)

Nil admirari - To admire nothing. (Horace)

Nil agit exemplum, litem quod lite resolvit - Not much worth is an example that solves one quarrel with another. (Horace)

Nil desperandum! - Never despair! (Horace)

Nil homini certum est - Nothing is certain for man. (Ovid)

Nil sine numine - Nothing without the Divine Will

Nisi credideritis, non intelligetis - Unless you will have believed, you will not understand. (St. Augustine)

Nisi prius - Unless previously

Nisi - Unless

Nolens volens - Whether one likes it or not; willing or unwilling

Noli equi dentes inspicere donati - Do not look a gift horse in the mouth. (St. Jerome)

Noli me tangere! - Don't touch me! (Versio Vulgata)

Noli nothis permittere te terere - Don_t let the bastards get you down

Noli turbare circulos meos! - Don't upset my calculations! (Archimedes)

Nolle prosequi - Do not pursue

Nolo contendere - I do not wish to contend

Nomen est omen - The name is the sign

Nomina stultorum parietibus haerent - The names of foolish persons adhere to walls (Fools names and fools faces are often seen in public places.)

Nominatim - By name

Non bis in idem - Not twice for the same thing

Non calor sed umor est qui nobis incommodat - It's not the heat, it's the humidity

Non compos mentis - Not in possession of one's senses

Non curo. Si metrum non habet, non est poema - I don't care. If it doesn't rhyme, it isn't a poem

Non erravi perniciose! - I did not commit a fatal error!

Non est ad astra mollis e terris via - There is no easy way from the earth to the stars. (Seneca)

Non est ei similis - There is no one like him

Non est mea culpa - It's not my fault

Non est vivere sed valere vita est - Life is not being alive but being well (life is more than just being alive)

Non ignara mali, miseris succurrere disco - No stranger to misfortune [myself] I learn to relieve the sufferings [of others

Non licet - It is not allowed

Non liquet - It is not clear

Non mihi, non tibi, sed nobis - Not for you, not for me, but for us

Non mortem timemus, sed cogitationem mortis - We do not fear death, but the thought of death. (Seneca)

Non multa, sed multum - Not many, but much. (Meaning, not quantity but quality) (Plinius)

Non nobis, Domine - Not unto us, O Lord

Non omne quod licet honestum est - Not everything that is permitted is honest. (Corpus Iuris Civilis)

Non omne quod nitet aurum est - Not all that glitters is gold

Non omnes qui habemt citharam sunt citharoedi - Not all those who own a musical instrument are musicians. (Bacon)

Non omnia moriar - Not all of me will die. (Horace)

Non omnia possumus omnes - Not all of us are able to do all things (We can't all do everything.) (Virgil)

Non omnis moriar - Not all of me will die. (his works would live forever) (Horace)

Non placet - It does not please

Non plus ultra! (Nec plus ultra!) - Nothing above that!

Non prosequitur - He does not proceed

Non quis, sed quid - Not who, but what

Non scholae sed vitae discimus - We do not learn for school, but for life. (Seneca)

Non semper erit aestas - It will not always be summer (be prepared for hard times)

Non sequitur - It does not follow

Non serviam - I will not serve

Non sibi sed suis - Not for one's self but for one's people

Non sibi, sed patriae - Not for you, but for the fatherland

Non sum qualis eram - I am not what / of what sort I was (I'm not what I used to be.)

Non teneas aurum totum quod splendet ut aurum - Do not take as gold everything that shines like gold

Non uno die roma aedificata est - Rome was not built in one day (either)

Non ut edam vivo, sed vivam edo - I do not live to eat, but eat to live. (Quintilianus)

Nosce te ipsum - Know thyself. (Inscription at the temple of Apollo in Delphi.)

Nota bene (nb.) - Note well. Observe carefully

Novus homo - A new Man; a man who was the first in his family to be elected to an office

Novus ordo seculorum - A new order of the ages. (appears on the U.S. one dollar bill)

Nulla avarita sine poena est - There is no avarice without penalty. (Seneca)

Nulla dies sine linea - Not a day without a line. Do something every day! (Apeles, Greek painter)

Nulla regula sine exceptione - There is no rule/law without exception

Nulla res carius constat quam quae precibus empta est - Nothing is so expensive as that which you have bought with pleas. (Seneca)

Nulla vit melior quam bona - There's no life better than a good life

Nulli expugnabilis hosti - Conquered by no enemy. (motto of Gibraltar)

Nulli secundus - Second to none

Nullius in verba - (Rely) on the words on no one. (Horace)

Nullo metro compositum est - It doesn't rhyme

Nullum crimen sine lege, nulla poena sine lege - No crime and no punishment without a (preexisting) law

Nullum est iam dictum quod non dictum sit prius - Nothing is said that hasn't been said before. (Terence)

Nullum magnum ingenium sine mixtura dementiae - There is no one great ability without a mixture of madness

Nullum quod tetiget non ornavit - He touched none he did not adorn

Nullum saeculum magnis ingeniis clausum est - No generation is closed to great talents. (Seneca)

Nullus est liber tam malus ut non aliqua parte prosit - There is no book so bad that it is not profitable on some part. (Pliny the Younger)

Numen - Divine power

Numero pondere et mensura Deus omnia condidit - God created everything by number, weight and measure. (Isaac Newton)

Numerus clausus - A restricted number

Numquam aliud natura, aliud sapientia dicit - Never does nature say one thing and wisdom say another

Numquam non paratus - Never unprepared

Numquam se minus solum quam cum solus esset - You are never so little alone as when you are alone. (Cicero)

Nunc aut nunquam - Now or never

Nunc dimittis - Now you let [your servant] depart

Nunc est bibendum - Now we must drink. (Horace)

Nunc pro tunc - Now for then retroactive