Latin Phrases L

Latin Translation Notes

labor omnia vincit

Hard work conquers all

Popular as a motto; derived from a phrase in Virgil's Eclogue (X.69: omnia vincit Amor "Love conquers all"); a similar phrase also occurs in hisGeorgics I.145. Motto of St. Xavier's Institution, Penang.

laborare pugnare parati sumus

To work, (or) to fight; we are ready

Motto of the California Maritime Academy

labore et honore

By labour and honour

Motto of several schools

laboremus pro patria

Let us work for the fatherland

Motto of the Carlsberg breweries

laboris gloria Ludi

Games are the glory of work,

Motto of the Camborne School of Mines, Cornwall, UK

lapsus

lapse, slip, error; involuntary mistake made while writing or speaking

lapsus calami

inadvertent typographical error, slip of the pen

lapsus linguae

inadvertent speech error, slip of the tongue

lapsus memoriae

slip of memory

Source of the term memory lapse.

laudator temporis acti

praiser of time past

One who is discontent with the present and instead prefers things of the past ("the good old days").

laudetur Jesus Christus

Praise (Be) Jesus Christ

Often used as a salutation, but also used after prayers or the reading of the gospel.

laus Deo

praise be to God

This is written on the East side at the peak of the Washington Monument in Washington, D.C. Also is the motto of the Viscount of Arbuthnott andSydney Grammar School.

lectori salutem

greetings reader

Often abbreviated to L.S., used as opening words for a letter.

lege artis

according to the law of the art

Denotes that a certain intervention is performed in a correct way. Used especially in a medical context. The 'art' referred to in the phrase is medicine.

legem terrae

the law of the land

leges humanae nascuntur, vivunt, et moriuntur

laws of man are born, live and die

leges sine moribus vanae

laws without morals [are] vain

From Horace's Odes: the official motto of the University of Pennsylvania.

legio patria nostra

The Legion is our fatherland

Motto of the French Foreign Legion

legi, intellexi, et condemnavi

I read, understood, and condemned.

legitime

lawfully

In Roman and civil law, a forced share in an estate; the portion

of the decedent's estate from which the immediate family cannot be disinherited. From the French hritier legitime (rightful heir).

lex artis

law of the skill

The rules that regulate a professional duty.

lex dei vitae lampas

the law of God is the lamp of life

Motto of the Presbyterian Ladies' College, Melbourne

lex ferenda

the law that should be borne

The law as it ought to be.

lex hac edictali

the law here proclaims

The rule whereby a spouse cannot by deed inter vivos or bequeath by testament to his or her second spouse more than the amount of the smallest portion given or bequeathed to any child.

lex in casu

law in the event

A law that only concerns one particular case. See law of the case.

lex lata

the law that has been borne

The law as it is.

lex loci

law of the place

lex non scripta

law that has not been written

Unwritten law, or common law.

lex orandi, lex credendi

the law of prayer is the law of faith

lex paciferat

the law shall bring peace

Motto of the European Gendarmerie Force

lex parsimoniae

law of succinctness

also known as Occam's Razor.

lex rex

the law [is] king

A principle of government advocating a rule by law rather than by men. The phrase originated as a double entendre in the title of Samuel Rutherford's controversial book Lex, Rex (1644), which espoused a theory of limited government and constitutionalism.

lex scripta

written law

Statutory law. Contrasted with lex non scripta.

lex talionis

the law of retaliation

Retributive justice (i.e., an eye for an eye).

lex tempus

time is the law

Name of musical composition by popular Maltese electronic music artist Ray Buttigieg

libera te tutemet (ex inferis)

Free yourself (from hell)

Used in the movie Event Horizon (1997), where it is translated as "save yourself (from hell)". It is initially misheard as liberate me (free me), but is later corrected. Libera te is often mistakenly merged into liberate, which would necessitate a plural pronoun instead of the singular tutemet (which is an emphatic form of tu, you).

Libertas Justitia Veritas

Liberty Justice Truth

Motto of the Korea University and Freie Universitt Berlin.

Libertas Quae Sera Tamen

freedom which [is] however late

Liberty even when it comes late; Motto of Minas Gerais, Brazil.

Libera Scientia

Free knowledge.

Libertas Securitas Justitia

Liberty Security Justice

Motto of the Frontex.

libra (lb)

balance; scales

Its abbreviation lb is used as a unit of weight, the pound.

loco citato (lc)

in the place cited

More fully written in loco citato. See also opere citato.

locum tenens

place holder

A worker who temporarily takes the place of another with similar qualifications, for example as a doctor or a member of the clergy. Sometimes shortened to locum.

locus classicus

a classic place

The most typical or classic case of something; quotation which most typifies its use.

locus minoris resistentiae

place of less resistance

A medical term to describe a location on or in a body that offers little resistance to infection, damage, or injury. For example, a weakened place that tends to be reinjured.

locus standi

A right to stand

Standing in law (the right to have one's case in court).

lorem ipsum

sorrow itself; pain for its own sake

A mangled fragment from Cicero's De Finibus Bonorum et Malorum (On the Limits of Good and Evil, 45 BC), used as typographer's filler to showfonts (a.k.a. greeking).

luceat lux vestra

Let your light shine

May be found in Matthew Ch. 5 V. 16. Popular as a school motto.

lucem sequimur

We follow the light

Motto of the University of Exeter

luctor et emergo

I struggle and emerge

Motto of the Dutch province of Zeeland to denote its battle against the sea, and the Athol Murray College of Notre Dame.

lucus a non lucendo

[it is] a grove by not being light

From late 4th-century grammarian Honoratus Maurus, who sought to mock implausible word origins such as those proposed by Priscian. A punbased on the word lucus (dark grove) having a similar appearance to the verb lucere (to shine), arguing that the former word is derived from the latter word because of a lack of light in wooded groves. Often used

as an example of absurd etymology.

ludemus bene in compania

We play well in groups

Motto of the Barony of Marinus.

lupus in fabula

the wolf in the story

With the meaning "speak of the wolf, and he will come"; from Terence's play Adelphoe.

lupus non mordet lupum

a wolf does not bite a wolf

lupus non timet canem latrantem

a wolf is not afraid of a barking dog

lux aeterna

eternal light

epitaph

lux et lex

light and law

Motto of the Franklin & Marshall College

lux et veritas

light and truth

A translation of the Hebrew Urim and Thummim. Motto of several institutions.

lux ex tenebris

light from darkness

Motto of the 67th Network Warfare Wing.

lux hominum vita

light the life of man

Motto of the University of New Mexico

lux in Domino

light in the Lord

Motto of the Ateneo de Manila University

lux libertas

light, liberty

Motto of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

Lux mentis Lux

Light of the mind, Light of

Motto of Sonoma State University

orbis

the world

lux sit

let there be light

A more literal Latinization of the phrase; the most common translation is fiat lux, from Latin Vulgate Bible phrase chosen for the Genesis line " the University of Washington. , ; " (And God said: 'Let there be light.' And there was light). Motto of

lux tua nos ducat

Your Light Guides Us

Motto of St. Julian's School, Carcavelos, Portugal

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lux, veritas, virtus

light, truth, courage

Motto of Northeastern University