Latin Proverbs, Mottoes, Phrases, and Words: Group I

(classical-language maxims, slogans, adages, proverbs, and words of wisdom that can still capture our modern imagination)

Expressions of general truths: Latin to English maxims, proverbs, and mottoes

Word entries are from Latin unless otherwise indicated.

in absentia
In [one's] absence.

Pronounced in Latin as [in ahb SEN tee uh] but in English as [in ab SEN shuh]. One may be awarded a university degree in absentia or be convicted of a crime in absentia; in the former case because of the inability of someone to appear for the academic ceremony, in the latter because somebody is beyond the reach of the law by being in another country or whose location is unknown.

in aeternum (Latin phrase)
Forever. to eternity: When Mr. Nelson passed away, Wendy tried to comfort his wife by saying that her husband would live in her heart in aeternum.
In alio pediculum, in te ricinum non vides.
You see a louse on someone else, but not a tick on yourself.
—Petronius Arbiter

Petronius (c. 27-66 A.D.) was a Roman courtier, satirist writer, and credited with writing the Satyricon (Tales of Satyrs); a long satirical romance in prose and verse of which only parts of the 15th and 16th books, in a fragmentary state, still survive.

—Excerpts from Chambers Biographical Dictionary,
Chambers Harrap Publishers, Ltd.; Edinburg, 1997.
in articulo mortis
In the grasp of death or at the moment of death.

A statement made in articulo mortis, "at the point of death", carries special weight; since it is believed that a person about to die has nothing to gain, perhaps much to lose, by lying.

In bono vince.
Conquer by good.

Motto of St. Lawrence College, Ramsgate, U.K.

in camera
In a chamber.

Current meaning is "in private" which is applied especially to a hearing held by a judge in her/his chambers, or in an office, with the public and the press excluded. A judge's chambers [singular] is his/her private office for discussing cases or legal matters not taken up in open court.

In Christo fratres.
Brothers in Christ.

Motto of Tonbridge School, U.K.

In Deo speramus.
We trust in God.

Motto of Brown University, Providence, Rhode Island, USA. It is also translated as, "In God we trust."

in excelsis
In the highest.
in extenso
In full.

An unabridged text is given in extenso or word for word.

In fide fiducia. (Latin motto)
Translation: "There is trust in faith."

Motto of Leys School, Cambridge, U.K.

In fide vestra virtutem in virtute autem scientiam. (Latin motto)
Translation: "[Have] virtue in your faith but knowledge in your virtue."

Motto of Agnes Scott College, Decatur, Georgia, USA.

In fide, justitia, et fortitudine.
In faith, justice, and strength.

Motto of the Order of St. George, Bavaria, Germany.

in flagrante delicto (s) (adverb) (no comparatives)
Descriptive of discovering someone behaving in an illegitimate and unethical way: An in flagrante delicto refers to a legal term which is used to indicate that a criminal has been caught in the act of committing an illegal offense; literally, "with the crime still blazing".

The phrases: "caught red-handed" or "caught in the act" are English equivalents of in flagrante delicto.

in folio
A once-folded sheet of printed matter.

Pointing to a page about a kleptomaniac Units of mottoes and proverbs listed by groups: A to X.