LATIN NOTES 1-20 ETYMOLOGY

AD HOC FOR THIS PURPOSE A temporary assignment; For a specific task

AD HOMINEM AGAINST THE MAN Attack the man, not the issue

AD INFINITUM WITHOUT LIMIT Forever; endlessly

AD LIBITUM (AD LIB) AT PLEASURE Extemporaneous speech

AD NAUSEAM TO SEASICKNESS To the point of causing nausea

ANNUIT COEPTIS HE HAS FAVORED OUR UNDERTAKING Motto on the US dollar bill

ALMA MATER NOURISHING MOTHER Romans used this to refer to the country of their birth; Reference to one’s college or university

ALTER EGO ANOTHER SELF An inseparable friend; Another aspect of one’s personality

ALUMNUS (ALUMNA, ALUMNAE, ALUMNI) FOSTER SON; PUPIL Graduate

AMOR VINCIT OMNIA LOVE CONQUERS ALL From works by Virgil and Chaucer (prologue in The Canterbury Tales)

ANNO DOMINI (A.D.) IN THE YEAR OF THE LORD Used to indicate that a time division falls within the period dating from the birth of Christ; sometimes written as CE (common era); BCE (before common era) predates AD/CE

A POSTERIORI FROM WHAT COMES AFTER Inductive reasoning from particular to general; Generalization based on assumptions

A PRIORI FROM WHAT COMES BEFORE Deductive reasoning; consequences deduced from principles derived from prior knowledge

ARS GRATIA ARTIS ART FOR ART’S SAKE Creating something just to create it, there is no specific purpose; MGM studio trademark

ARS LONGA, VITA BREVIS ART IS LONG, LIFE IS SHORT Art will last after the artist is gone; axiom coined by Hippocrates

BONA FIDE IN GOOD FAITH Honest; sincere offer; Documentation; credentials

CARPE DIEM SEIZE THE DAY Take action now; “Strike while the iron is hot”

CASUS BELLI CAUSE OF WAR An act or event that provokes or is used to justify war

CAVEAT LET HIM BEWARE Warning; Admonition

CAVEAT EMPTOR LET THE BUYER BEWARE Get it in writing