| latin phrase | english translation |
| |
| Machina improba! Vel mihi ede potum vel mihi redde nummos meos! |
You infernal machine! Give me a beverage or give me my money back! |
| Maecenas atavis edite regibus |
Maecenas, born of monarch ancestors. (Horace) |
| Magister artis ingeniique largitor venter |
Necessity is the mother of all invention |
| Magister Artium (MA) |
Master of arts |
| Magister mundi sum! |
I am the master of the universe! |
| Magna charta |
Great paper |
| Magna cum laude |
With great honour or academic distinction |
| Magna res est vocis et silentii temperamentum |
The great thing is to know when to speak and when to keep quiet |
| Magnas inter oper inops |
A pauper in the midst of wealth. (Horace) |
| Magnificat |
It magnifies |
| Magnum bonum |
A great good |
| Magnum opus |
Great work, the major work of one's life |
| Magnus frater spectat te |
Big Brother is watching you |
| Maior risus, acrior ensis: quadragesima octava regula quaesitus |
The bigger the smile, the sharper the knife: the 48th rule of acquisition |
| Mala fide |
In bad faith (something which is done fraudulently) |
| Male parta male dilabuntur |
What has been wrongly gained is wrongly lost. (Ill-gotten gains seldom prosper.) (Cicero) |
| Malum consilium quod mutari non potest |
It's a bad plan that can't be changed. (Publilius Syrus) |
| Malum prohibitum |
A prohibited wrong. A crime that society decides is wrong for some reason, not inherently evil |
| Malum quidem nullum esse sine aliquo bono |
There is, to be sure, no evil without something good. (Pliny the Elder) |
| Manus in mano |
Hand in hand |
| Manus manum lavat |
One hand washes the other. The favor for the favor. (Petronius) |
| Mare clausum |
A closed sea |
| Mare liberum |
An open sea |
| Mare nostrum |
Our sea. (Mediterranean) |
| Margaritas ante porcos |
Pearls before swine. To give something valuable to someone not respecting it |
| Mater artium necessitas |
Necessity is the mother of invention |
| Mater dolorosa |
Sorrowful mother. (Virgin Mary) |
| Mater memento mori |
Remember your mortality |
| Mater tua criceta fuit, et pater tuo redoluit bacarum sambucus |
Your mother was a hamster and your father smelt of elderberries |
| Mater |
Mother |
| Materfamilias |
Mother of family |
| Materia medica |
Medical matter |
| Materiam superabat opus |
The workmanship was better than the subject matter. (Ovid) |
| Maxima debetur puero reverentia |
We owe the greatest respect to a child |
| Maximus in minimis |
Great in little things |
| Me fallit |
I do not know |
| Me iudice |
I being judge; in my judgement |
| Me oportet propter praeceptum te nocere |
I'm going to have to hurt you on principle |
| Me transmitte sursum, caledoni! |
Beam me up, Scotty! |
| Mea culpa |
Through my fault |
| Mea maxima culpa |
Through my very great fault |
| Mea mihi conscientia pluris est quam omnium sermo |
My conscience means more to me than all speech. (Cicero) |
| Medice, cura te ipsum! |
Physician, heal thyself! (Versio Vulgata) |
| Medici graviores morbos asperis remediis curant |
Doctors cure the more serious diseases with harsh remedies. (Curtius Rufus) |
| Medicus curat, natura sanat |
The physician treats, nature cures |
| Medio tutissimus ibis |
You will go safest in the middle. (Moderation in all things) (Ovid) |
| Mei capilli sunt flagrantes |
My hair is on fire |
| Meliora cogito |
I strive for the best |
| Melitae amor |
Love of Malta |
| Melius est praevenire quam praeveniri |
Better to forestall than to be forestalled |
| Melius frangi quam flecti |
It is better to break than to bend |
| Melius tarde, quam nunquam |
Better late than never |
| Mellita, domi adsum |
Honey, I'm home |
| Memento mori |
Remember that you must die |
| Memento vivere |
A reminder of life (literally remember that you have to live) |
| Memorabilia |
Memorable things |
| Memorandum |
A note of; a thing to be remembered |
| Memoria in aeterna |
In everlasting remembrance |
| Memoriter |
From memory |
| Mendacem memorem esse oportet |
A liar needs a good memory. (Quintilianus) |
| Mens agitat molem |
The mind moves the matter. (Vergil) |
| Mens rea |
Guilty mind |
| Mens regnum bona possidet |
An honest heart is a kingdom in itself. (Seneca) |
| Mens sana in corpore sano |
A sound mind in a sound body. (Juvenalis) |
| Mens sibi conscia recti |
A mind conscious of its rectitude |
| Meum cerebrum nocet |
My brain hurts |
| Meum pactum dictum |
My word is my bond |
| Mihi cura futuri |
My concern is the future |
| Mihi ignosce. Cum homine de cane debeo congredi |
Excuse me. I've got to see a man about a dog |
| Millennium (millennia) |
A thousand year period |
| Minime senuisti! |
You haven't aged a bit! |
| Minus habens |
Absentminded |
| Mirabile dictu |
Wonderful to say/relate. (Vergil) |
| Mirabile visu |
Wonderful to behold |
| Miserere |
Have mercy |
| Missa solemnis |
Solemn Mass. (high Mass) |
| Mittimus |
We send (to prison) |
| Modus agendi |
Manner of operation |
| Modus operandi (m.o.) |
Way of operating |
| Modus vivendi |
Way of living |
| Monstra mihi pecuniam! |
Show me the money! |
| Moratorium |
A delay |
| Morituri te salutant |
Those who are about to die salute you |
| Mors ultima linea rerum est |
Death is everything's final limit. (Horace) |
| Mors ultima ratio |
Death is the final accounting |
| Mortvi non mordant |
Dead me don't bite; Dead men tell no tale |
| Motu proprio |
Of one's own initiative |
| Mulier taceat in ecclesia |
Let the woman be silent in church. (Paul) |
| Multi famam, conscientiam pauci verentur |
Many fear their reputation, few their conscience. (Pliny) |
| Multis post annis |
Many years later |
| Multum in parvo |
Much in little. (small but significant) |
| Multun, non multa |
Much, not many (quality not quantity) |
| Mundus vult decipi, ergo decipiatur |
The world wants to be deceived, so let it be deceived! |
| Mundus vult decipi |
The world wants to be deceived |
| Munit haec et altera vincit |
One defends and the other conquers |
| Mus uni non fidit antro |
A mouse does not rely on just one hole. (Plautus) |
| Musica delenit bestiam feram |
Music soothes the savage beast |
| Mutatis mutandis |
The necessary changes having been made |
| Mutato nomine |
The name being changed |
| Mvlti svnt vocati, pavci vero electi |
Many are called [but] few are chosen |
| Mvndvs vvlt decipi |
The world wishes to be deceived there's a sucker born every minute |
| Mvtatis mvtandis |
The things that ought to have changed having been changed with the necessary substitutions having been made |