This page lists direct English translations of 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 that of ancient Rome.
This list covers the letter L. See List of Latin phrases for the main list.
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| References |
L
| Latin | Translation | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Labor omnia vincit | Hard work conquers all | State motto of Oklahoma and many other institutions. Derived from a phrase in Virgil's Eclogue X (10.59: omnia vincit Amor — "Love conquers all"). |
| Laborare pugnare parati sumus | To work, (or) to fight; we are ready | Motto of the California Maritime Academy |
| Labore et honore | By labour and honour | Motto of several schools |
| Laboremus pro patria | Let us work for the fatherland | Motto of the Carlsberg breweries |
| Laboris gloria Ludi | Work hard, Play hard | Motto of the Camborne School of Mines, Cornwall, UK |
| lapsus linguae | slip of the tongue | A "proglossis", "tip of the tongue" or "apex of the tongue". Often used to mean "linguistic error" or "language mistake". It and its written-word variant, lapsus calami (slip of the pen) can sometimes refers to a typographical error as well. Ex.: "I'm sorry for mispronouncing your name. It wasn't intentional; it was a lapsus linguae". |
| lapsus memoriae | slip of memory | Source of the term memory lapse. |
| Laudator Temporis Acti | praiser of time past | One who is discontent with the present but instead prefers things of the past. See "the Good old days". |
| Laudetur Jesus Christus | Praise (Be) Jesus Christ | Often used as a salutation, but also used after prayers or the reading of the gospel. |
| laus Deo | praise be to God | This is written on the East side at the peak of the Washington Monument in Washington, D.C. Also is the motto of Sydney Grammar School. |
| lectori salutem | greetings reader | Often abbreviated to L.S., used as opening words for a letter. |
| lege artis | according to the law of the art | Describes something genuine, true, real, tested, proven, not assumed, not placebo. Used especially in a medical context. The 'art' referred to in the phrase is medicine. |
| legem terrae | the law of the land | |
| leges humanae nascuntur, vivunt, et moriuntur | laws of man are born, live and die | |
| leges sine moribus vanae | laws without morals [are] vain | From Horace's Odes: the official motto of the University of Pennsylvania. |
| legitime | lawfully | A legal term describing a "forced share", the portion of a deceased person's estate from which the immediate family cannot be disinherited. From the French héritier legitime (rightful heir). |
| lex artis | law of the skill | The rules that regulate a professional duty. |
| lex orandi, lex credendi | the law of prayer is the law of faith | |
| lex dei vitae lampas | the law of God is the lamp of life | Motto of the Presbyterian Ladies' College, Melbourne |
| lex ferenda | the law that should be borne | The law as it ought to be. |
| lex hac edictali | the law here proclaims | The rule whereby a spouse cannot by deed inter vivos or bequeath by testament to his or her second spouse more than the amount of the smallest portion given or bequeathed to any child. |
| lex in casu | law in the event | A law that only concerns one particular case. |
| lex lata | the law that has been borne | The law as it is. |
| lex loci | law of the place | |
| lex non scripta | law that has not been written | Unwritten law, or common law. |
| lex parsimoniae | law of succinctness | also known as Occam's Razor. |
| lex rex | the law [is] king | A principle of government advocating a rule by law rather than by men. The phrase originated as a double entendre in the title of Samuel Rutherford's controversial book Lex, Rex (1644), which espoused a theory of limited government and constitutionalism. |
| lex scripta | written law | Statute law. Contrasted with lex non scripta. |
| lex talionis | the law of retaliation | Retributive justice (cf. an eye for an eye). |
| lex tempus | time is the law | Name of musical composition by popular Maltese electronic music artist Ray Buttigieg |
| libera te tutemet (ex inferis) | Free yourself (from hell) | Used in the movie Event Horizon (1997), where it is translated as "save yourself (from hell)". It is initially misheard as liberate me (free me), but is later corrected. Libera te is often mistakenly merged into liberate, which would necessitate a plural pronoun instead of the singular tutemet (which is an emphatic form of tu, you). |
| Libertas Justitia Veritas | Liberty Justice Truth | Motto of the Korea University. |
| Libertas Quae Sera Tamen | freedom which [is] however late | Thus, "liberty even when it comes late". Motto of Minas Gerais, Brazil. |
| libra (lb) | scales | Literally "balance". Its abbreviation, lb, is used as a unit of weight, the pound. |
| loco citato (lc) | in the place cited | More fully written in loco citato. See also opere citato. |
| locus classicus | a classic place | The most typical or classic case of something; quotation which most typifies its use. |
| locus deperditus | place of (irremediable) loss | Used in philology to indicate that subsequent mistakes in the tradition of the text have made a passage so corrupted as to discourage any attempt of correction. The passage is marked by a crux desperationis ("†"). Somehow close in meaning to the modern English expression lost in translation. |
| locus minoris resistentiae | place of less resistance | A medical term to describe a location on or in a body that offers little resistance to infection, damage, or injury. For example, a weakened place that tends to be reinjured. |
| lorem ipsum | sorrow itself, pain for its own sake | A mangled fragment from Cicero's De Finibus Bonorum et Malorum (On the Limits of Good and Evil, 45 BC), used as typographer's filler to show fonts (a.k.a. greeking). An approximate literal translation of lorem ipsum might be "sorrow itself", as the term is from dolorum ipsum quia, meaning "sorrow because of itself", or less literally, "pain for its own sake". |
| luceat lux vestra | Let your light shine | May be found in Matthew Ch. 5 V. 16. Popular as a school motto. |
| lucem sequimur | We follow the light | Motto of the University of Exeter, United Kingdom |
| luctor et emergo | I struggle and emerge | Motto of both the Dutch province of Zeeland to denote its battle against the sea, and the Athol Murray College of Notre Dame in Wilcox, Saskatchewan. |
| lucus a non lucendo | [it is] a grove by not being light | From late 4th-century grammarian Honoratus Maurus, who sought to mock implausible word origins such as those proposed by Priscian. A pun based on the word lucus (dark grove) having a similar appearance to the verb lucere (to shine), arguing that the former word is derived from the latter word because of a lack of light in wooded groves. Often used as an example of absurd etymology. |
| lupus in fabula | the wolf in the story | With the meaning "speak of the wolf, and he will come". Occurs in Terence's play Adelphoe. |
| lupus non mordet lupum | a wolf does not bite a wolf | |
| lux et lex | light and law | Motto of the liberal arts school, Franklin & Marshall College. Light in reference to Benjamin Franklin's many innovations and discoveries. Law in reference to John Marshall as one of the most notable Supreme Court Justices. |
| lux et veritas | light and truth | A translation of the Hebrew Urim and Thummim. Motto of Yale University, Indiana University, and the University of Montana. An expanded form, lux et veritas floreant (let light and truth flourish), is the motto of the University of Winnipeg |
| lux ex tenebris | light from darkness | Motto of the 67th Network Warfare Wing, a unit within the United States Air Force. |
| lux hominum vita | life the light of men | Motto of the University of New Mexico |
| lux in Domino | light in the Lord | Motto of the Ateneo de Manila University |
| lux libertas | light, liberty | Motto of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill |
| lux mentis lux orbis | Light of the mind, light of the world | Motto of Sonoma State University |
| lux sit | let there be light | A more literal Latinization of the phrase "let there be light", the most common translation of fiat lux ("let light arise", literally "let light be made"), which in turn is the Latin Vulgate Bible phrase chosen for the Genesis line "וַיֹּאמֶר אֱלֹהִים, יְהִי אוֹר; וַיְהִי-אוֹר" (And God said: 'Let there be light.' And there was light). Motto of the University of Washington. |
| lux tua nos ducat | Your Light Guides Us | Motto of St. Julian's School, Carcavelos, Portugal[1] |
Notes
References
- This article incorporates content from the 1728 Cyclopaedia, a publication in the public domain.
- Adeleye, Gabriel G. (1999). World Dictionary of Foreign Expressions. Ed. Thomas J. Sienkewicz and James T. McDonough, Jr. Wauconda, IL: Bolchazy-Carducci Publishers, Inc. ISBN 0865164223.
- Hardon, John, Fr. Modern Catholic Dictionary.
- Stone, Jon R. (1996). Latin for the Illiterati. London & New York: Routledge. ISBN 0415917751.
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