Latin was originally spoken 3,000 years ago by small groups of people living along the lower Tiber River in present-day Italy. During the height of the Roman Empire, the language exploded across the European continent and the western Mediterranean coastal regions of Africa.
Today, Latin has a reputation of being a “dead language,” but that descriptor isn’t entirely accurate. It provides the building blocks for all of the Romance languages, and many words and expressions in contemporary English are borrowed straight from Latin. Take the informal motto of the United States: E Pluribus Unum is Latin for “oOut of many, one.” Here’s a list of common expressions, words, and mottos for major institutions that owe their origin to this so-called dead language.
This quote, meaning “I came, I saw, I conquered,” is famously attributed to Julius Caesar, sent in a message to the Roman Senate to describe his victory against King Pharnaces II of Pontus in 47 BCE. The classical historian Plutarch praised the brevity and poetry of Caesar’s words, likely contributing factors as to why the phrase has been preserved for so long. In more modern decades, a song in the 1950s Broadway hit Auntie Mame includes the line “You came, you saw, you conquered,” and the rock band the Hives named a 2002 album “Veni Vidi Vicious.”
This Latin expression, meaning “the existing state (of affairs),” is used mainly in the context of social or political issues, but it can refer to an unaltered condition of any kind. “Status quo” has been in contemporary English usage since 1833, so it’s quite far from dead.
While this isn’t a phrase you’ll hear every day, alums of the University of Chicago hold it close to heart. The motto means “let knowledge grow from more to more; and so be human life enriched.” Many universities and learning institutions have Latin mottos because the language was once used for formal education around the time theymany famous universities were founded, and the traditions persisted.
It makes sense that Clark Kent (aka Superman) was raised in Kansas. The state motto, translated from Latin, means “to the stars through difficulties.” About half of the 50 states have Latin mottos.
Carpe diem, one of the most widely used contemporary Latin phrases, translates to “seize the day,” but the interpretation of it is generally “live each day as if it’s your last.” The Latin phrase first appeared in the Roman poet Horace’s work Odes (23 BCE). Carpe is a form of the infinitive verb carpō, meaning “pick or pluck,” so a more literal translation would be “pluck the day.”
This phrase, attributed to the Roman philosopher and writer Pliny the Elder, means “in wine, there is truth.” Pliny may have had weightier topics in mind, but the Latin phrase is still applicable as long as people continue to let secrets slip out after a few glasses of happy-hour wine.
Persona non grata literally translates to “person not welcome.” It was originally used in the context of diplomacy, such as when a foreign diplomat was asked by a host country to be recalled to their home country. Today, it’s used in more personal situations — e.g., an ex-husband may be persona non grata in your friend group.
Unlike Veni, vidi, vici, these words were never actually said by the real-life Julius Caesar. Instead, the Shakespearean character of Julius Caesar says them in the eponymous play when he recognizes that his friend Marcus Junius Brutus played a role in his assassination. These days, the expression, which translates as “you too, Brutus?” might be used humorously to criticize a friend’s change of heart.
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