| latin phrase | english translation |
| |
| 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 auderis delere orbem rigidum meum! |
Don't you dare erase my hard disk! |
| Ne cede malis |
Yield not to evils |
| Ne feceris ut rideam |
Don't make me laugh |
| Ne humanus crede |
Trust no human |
| 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 |
| Negotium populo romano melius quam otium committi |
The Roman people understand work better than leisure |
| 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 iudex |
No one is a judge of himself |
| 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 |
| Neutiquam erro |
I am not lost |
| 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 curo de ista tua stulta superstitione |
I'm not interested in your dopey religious cult |
| Nihil declaro |
I have nothing to declare |
| 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 est--In vita priore ego imperator romanus fui |
That's nothing--in a previous life I was a Roman Emperor |
| 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 |
| Nill illigitimi carborundum |
Do not let the bastards get you down |
| Nisi credideritis, non intelligetis |
Unless you will have believed, you will not understand. (St. Augustine) |
| Nisi prius |
Unles 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 me voca, ego te vocabo |
Don't call me. I'll call you |
| Noli nothis permittere te terere |
Don't let the bastards get you down |
| Noli simul flare sobereque |
Don't whistle and drink at the same time |
| Noli turbare circulos meos! |
Don't upset my calculations! (Archimedes) |
| Nolite id cogere, cape malleum majorem |
Don't force it, get a bigger hammer |
| 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 Gradus Anus Rodentum! |
Not Worth A Rats Ass! |
| Non ignara mals, miseris svccvrrere disco |
No stranger to misfortune [myself] I learn to relieve the sufferings [of others |
| Non illigitamus carborundum |
Don't let the bastards grind you down |
| 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 usthe foundation of a good relationship |
| 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 plaudite. Modo pecuniam jacite |
Don't applaud. Just throw money |
| Non plus ultra! (Nec plus ultra!) |
Nothing above that! |
| Non prosequitur |
He does not proceed |
| Non quis, sed quid |
Not who, but what |
| Non rape me si placet |
Please don't rob me |
| 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 pisces |
I am not a fish |
| 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 timetis messor |
Don't Fear the Reaper |
| 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) |
| Non vereor ne illam me amare hic potuerit resciscere; quippe haud etiam quicquam inepte feci |
I don't think anyone knows I love the girl; I haven't done anything really silly yet |
| Non, mihi ignosce, credo me insequentem esse |
No, excuse me, I believe I'm next |
| Nonne amicus certus in re incerta cernitur? |
A friend in need is a friend in deed. (our equivalent) |
| Nonne de novo eboraco venis? |
You're from New York, aren't you? |
| Nonne macescis? |
Have you lost weight? |
| 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 saeculorum |
A new order of ages |
| Novus ordo seclorum |
A new order for 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 (pre-existing) law |
| Nullum est iam dictum quod non dictum sit prius |
Nothing is said that hasn't been said before. (Terence) |
| Nullum gratuitum prandium |
There is no free lunch! |
| Nullum magnum ingenium sine mixtura dementiae |
There is no one great ability without a mixture of madness |
| Nullum saeculum magnis ingeniis clausum est |
No generation is closed to great talents. (Seneca) |
| Nullus est instar domus |
There is no place like home |
| 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 |
| Nummus americanus |
Greenback. ($US) |
| 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 dimittis |
Now let depart |
| Nunc est bibendum |
Now we must drink. (Horace) |
| Nvdvm pactvm |
A nude pact an invalid agreement a contract with illusory benefits or without consideration hence unenforceable |
| Nvllvm qvod tetiget non ornavit |
He touched none he did not adornnot simply "the Midas touch", or "he left things better than he found them", but a tribute to a Renaissance man |
| Nvnc avt nvnqvam |
Now or never |
| Nvnc dimittis |
Now let [thy servant] departgenerally any permission to go, specifically to express one's readiness to depart or die |
| Nvnc pro tvnc |
Now for then retroactive |