List of Latin phrases


This page lists direct English translations of common Latin phrases, such as vēnī, vīdī, vīcī and et cetera. Some of the phrases are themselves translations of Greek phrases, because Greek rhetoric and literature were greatly esteemed in Ancient Rome when Latin rhetoric and literature were maturing.
The Latin letter "i" may be used either as a vowel or a consonant. In Medieval Latin, when "i" was used as a consonant, the letter "j", which originally was simply an orthographic "long 'i'" that was used in initial positions and when it occurred between two other vowels, replaced it. This convention is preserved mostly in Latin legal terminology; thus phrases such as de iure often are spelled de jure. In this page, phrases that in Medieval Latin had the letter "j" replace their consonantal "i"s are enumerated as if beginning with "i".

To view all phrases on a single, lengthy document, see:
The list also is divided alphabetically into twenty pages: