Okay, this one actually makes me feel bad. I hate the thought that some well-meaning Marines have (semi-)permanently scarred themselves with something nonsensical:
It’s supposed to say, “Father and Son: Brothers Forever.” Of course it really says “Father and Growth: Brother! Endlessness!”
(Punctuation added, of course, for emphasis.)
NOTE: I know that natus (2nd declension) can mean son (or at least man-child), but why not use filius? I think it’s funnier this way (4th declension).
Possibly related:
Hi there!
I am hoping you can help me. I am trying to say “life is not eternal, love is” So far, I have come up with two possibilities. vita non aeternus, diligo est or vita non aeternus, amor est.
I guess I should tell you that I am trying to describe a daughter’s love for her father.
Am I even close? Thanks for your help!
Hey i want a tattoo in latin saying ”let your light shine” but i have found three differnt words and not sure which one is right.
1. luceat lux vestra
2.luceat vestra lux
3.Lux tua luceat
Could you tell me which one it is.. thanks
Lou,
They all work. The first two say exactly the same thing, but #1 has the more common word order.
Vestra means ‘your’, plural, while tua means ‘your’, singular. Again, the word order doesn’t matter much.
Dear Dennis,
You suggested ” vive divitissimo” as translation for “live your life at the fullest”.
As I want something shorter, what do you think about ‘plene vive’or ‘uberrime vive’?
Thanks for your appreciated reply!
Grtz,Peter
can someone translate this in latin plz.…“my love is forever”.…thnx
Tracey,
non semper erit vita, sed amor.
.
This uses the future in keeping with a certain Latin usage: ‘There will not always be life, but (there will always be) love.’ I’ve based it on an old Latin proverd recorded by Seneca, non semper erunt Saturnalia, ‘It won’t always be Saturnalia,’ i.e., the party’s going to end some time.
.
.
Peter,
Plene can have connotations of fatness, so it could be read as a joke, but it’s fine otherwise (though plenissime is the superlative, ‘most fully’). Uberrime really gets its sense from milk-filled breasts or udders. (Udder and uber are actually the same word.)
.
.
Tanya,
amor mihi aeternus
.
I’m using a dative of possession. Literally it says ‘love for me is eternal’ (the word ‘is’ is often omitted), but the construction in Latin means the same thing as ‘I have’, so it means, ‘I have eternal love.‘
.
It would be pronounced as amor mi aeternus because the final syllable of mihi would elide, and the h is practically silent.
I wanted to get a tattoo that says “one life, one love” in latin. From the research i did i came up with “Una Vita, Unus Amor” is this right? I would really appreciate the help =) THANK YOU!
Cecilia,
That’s literally correct. I wonder about idiom, though. That’s fine if you mean something like “(there is) one life, (there is) one love.” If you mean that the two are the same, or are inextricably linked or something, I might go with a different phrase.
simul vita, simul amor
pares amor vitaque
Roughly: ‘at once both life and love’ and ‘equal are love and life.’
Not related to tattoos, I have heard latin mottos before and taken stabs at a couple myself in past ventures. Not really having anyone to proof them, I’ve gone with the best I could come up with, but would appreciate finally knowing how close or far I came in my efforts:
“We are not afraid” (nos non timidus)
and
“To protect is the authority to act” (patrocinor est vox vocis duco)
hello, I was vacillating between 3 ideas for a tattoo:
either just the word “live”, which I am pretty sure is “vive” in Latin
or
luceat lux vestra (let your light shine)
or
semper ad meliora (always toward better things)
but I wanted to make sure that all of these were proper Latin.
Thank you so much.
There seems to be many friendly experts on this blog. So I pose a question in order to not look like a douche in having the wrong wording. How to say “My life ended” or “My life as I knew it ended” something alone those lines.
As always, these represent what my gut tells me is good Latin style and idiom, and will most likely differ from what others say.
Bill:
nobis nihil timoris (literally, ‘for us there is nothing of fear’)
tutela actionem permittit (literally, ‘protection grants action’)
Ashley:
’Vive’ is fine, but just know that it’s directed to one person. If you’re talking to more than one it’s ‘vivite’.
‘Luceat lux vestra’ uses the 2nd person plural pronoun, so you’re telling more than one person to let their collective light shine (‘hey, y’all … let you’re light shine.’) I would put the adjective before the noun (‘luceat vestra lux’), and to make it singular you should say ‘luceat tua lux,’ which has a nice ring to it.
‘Semper ad meliora’ is fine.
Lane:
“My life ended” or “My life as I knew it ended” is best taken from literature. Vergil’s Aeneid, book 4, line 653.
vixi et quem dederat cursum Fortuna peregi
‘I have lived and the course which fortune had given me I have completed.’
The verb tenses are important here, and echo Aeneas’ earlier state that Troy ‘has been’, i.e., that it is no more.
This is Dido finally making clear what she has been hinting at, namely that she believes her life is over and she is about to commit suicide. That may sound rather bleak, but poetry is always taken out of context, especially by other poets.
It can be stated as simply as vixi: ‘I have lived.’ Again, the verb tense makes it clear that living is finished.
Hello Dennis! I want to translate this frase to latin for a tatoo:
Live the life you love, love the life you live.
Please help me!
/Rasmus sweden
Rasmus,
I like this for simplicity.
vitam ama et vive amatam
Literally this says ‘love (your) life and live (a life) (having been) loved,’ but it works poetically (‘live and love a loved life’). It’s a condensed version of something like this:
vive vitam quam amas et ama vitam quam vivis
And what exact does it means: vive vitam quam amas et ama vitam quam vivis
/rasmus
“Live the life which you love and love the life which you live.” That’s very literal, but I think a Roman would be more likely to compose the short version.
That’s awesome of you! Thanks for your time
.
Hi dennis,
this blog is AMAZING! i’m thinking of getting something next week in remembrance of my late aunt. i was hoping to get a translation of “forever with me” or “forever/eternally a part of me” whichever sounds truer to the latin form in your opinion. how would that look translated?
While it may sound like a direct translation, Roman poets did use the phrase ‘pars mei’ (‘part of me’). You could also say ‘mecum’, which means ‘with me’.
You could use and adverb like ‘semper’ or ‘perenne’ to say ‘forever, always,’ or you could use an adjective like aeterna.
Any combination of the above works, but I think I like ‘pars mei aeterna.’
Wow ur blog is amazing and I’ve learned allot. But jus to make sure yet again. “sine paenitentia vive” means “live life with no regrets” And, what
does “Sine ullo vivere desiderio” mean? One more, what’s the translation of “Live without regrets” in Latin? I know I sound all redundunt now but u will be a big help. Thank you thank you thank you.
Giancarlo,
They all mean essentially the same thing. ‘Sine ullo desiderio’, however, is common in Christian Latin to mean ‘without any desire’ to do something.
Need some help for a family tattoo. How would you say “blood is thicker than water”? Thank you so much in advance, i dont know anyone latin speaking.
Some variation of the following:
sanguis est crassior quam aqua
You can rearrange the words, but ‘quam aqua’ has to remain a unit.
Hello, is there a translation for.…
)
1.Dream as if you’ll live forever, live as if you’ll die today.
2.What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger.
Any help would be appreciated thank you so much
Niki, How about this:
somnia quasi semper vivas.
vive quasi hodie moriaris.
Hey Dennis, this blog is amazing!! Ive searched the online latin translations…but I know they’re not 100%. I have several phrases I need a latin translation on.…
1) ‘Nothing lasts forever’
2) ‘Love life, live life’
3) (And also something along the lines of).…
‘Tomorrow is never promised’
Thanks heaps Dennis
Bazza,
1. nihil semper superat
2. ama vitam, vive vitam
3. dies crastinus numquam promittitur
Hello. I would like to know if you can translate “angel” for me in Latin. Thank you very much
Wenny,
Angel is just the Greek word for a messenger. It was used in the New Testament for the ‘messengers’ of god, and the word was taken up as an English word.
In the Latin translations of the New Testament and in the writings of the early Church fathers, the word is transliterated from the Greek as angelus. Its masculine in gender. If it were translated into Latin (which it isn’t, for some written), it would be nuntius.
Hey Dennis,
I was wondering if you could tell me what “Courage conquers all things” would be in Latin?
thanks so much
Katie,
virtus omnia vincit
thanks so much, you are awesome
Hi Dennis, I was wondering if you could translate “If there is a will, there is a way” to Latin? Thank you!
Melsa,
I might say ‘potes si vis’ (‘you are able if you are willing’).
Another alliterative (and more literal) take: ‘est via si voluntas.’
Dennis, thanks for all the help! I was wondering if you could tell me the translation for “Forgive me Father, for I have sinned” in Latin, and also for “If there is a will, there is a way”
Thank you.
Peter,
Luke 15.18 (in the Vulgate), I believe, is the source: ‘pater, peccavi’: ‘father, I have sinned.’
The common variants seem to be these:
benedic mihi, pater, quia peccavi (‘bless me, father, for I have sinned’)
ignosce mihi, pater, quia peccavi (‘forgive me, father, for I have sinned’)
parce mihi, pater, quia peccavi (‘spare me, father, for I have sinned’)
This is sad, because the intended sentiment (that they are comrades in arms) is beautiful … but the actual message is awful. The only thing worse than the grammar is the speculation this causes regarding their mother!
I was wondering what “Brothers” is in latin. If you could help me out I would appreciate it. Thanks
Brothers = fratres, from the nouns frater, fratris (m.)
could you help me i was wondering if sed amor aeternus would read..but love eternal?
TJ,
Yes. With ellipsis of the verb ‘is’ (Latin: est) it reads as ‘but love is eternal.’
This blog is amazing! Can you help me with a phrase i’ve been trying to translate? It’s
“I Live as I desire”
All I came up with is Ad Libitur meaning as desire.
Thanks =D
Anna,
I read that and hear ‘I live the life that I desire to live.’
That might be something like vivo vitam quam aveo.
It’s really common to say ‘live life’ in Latin rather than just ‘live.’
Thank You! =D
Hi dennis. Can you give me the best translation for ” everything hapens for a reason” please? I’d really, really appreciate it. Thank you
Nicola,
I disagree, but the best way to express the sentiment in Latin is ex nihilo nihil fit: ‘nothing comes from nothing.’
Hi there
I want to get the word “DAD” tattooed in Latin and from my research I have found the word “PATER” to be the translation, is this right? Also, I want it in the Latin alphabet but I can not seem to find the letter “R”. Could you please help ????
Avalon,
pater = father
tata = daddy
I don’t know what you mean by the Latin alphabet. We use the same with the addition of a few letters. Please double-check what you’re doing. I’m worried that you’ll mistakenly use Greek letters or something. (See here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Latin_alphabet#Origins)
Hi.
I am trying to translate “Always in our hearts” i have been told it is “Semper nobis cordi es.”
I want it to mean loved ones who have passed on will always be in our hearts.
Thanks
Hannah,
Your phrase literally says ‘you (singular) are always for the heart for us.’ It’s really a poetic way of saying something like ‘you are always agreeable to me’ (in other words, ‘you don’t ever get on my nerves’).
I would go for something more vague and say ‘semper in animo.’
what about something like “semper in pectoribus nostris.” would that be better?
Hannah,
That could work, too.
Hey, I am just trying to double check a phrase before ink hits skin.
Does
respice adspice prospice
equal
look to the past, look to the present, look to the future?
Thanks
Frankie,
I would change the spelling on the second word, but otherwise it’s a fine, old motto. (The spelling change is relatively minor, but ads– strikes me as old-fashioned and pedantic.)
respice, aspice, prospice
The prefixes imply the time periods in the translations (re– = ‘back’ and so implies the past and pro– = ‘forward’ and so implies the future). It’s a phrase with a long history.
Wow! Your blog is awesome! I wanted to get a tattoo that says, “Forever in Love.” Can you give me the proper translation? Thanks so much!
Tiffany,
I might say semper amantes (literally ‘always lovers/loving’).
Hi.
I also want to make sure that this phrase is correct before I get the tattoo. I want “always toward better things”, which i thought was “semper ad meliora”. I read somebody did already ask you about that, and when I google it, it says that is correct also. But I had somebody who studied Latin check it and he said he thought it was wrong, and that the “ad” part did not fit. And on an online English to Latin dictionary, it said that “always” was “usquequaque”.
What do you think?
Kate,
Semper ad meliora works just fine and has been used in print for many years. There’s an implied verb like trahas or tendas, i.e., ‘may you strive.’ Usque quaque really means ‘everywhere.’
Thanks heaps Dennis! Yeah I realised that they use the English alphabet so I am just going to get it in a cool font lol. Thanks again.
Hi there,
As I do not want to fall into this category, I thought I would seek your help. I would like a translation of “always believe” and was wondering if “semper credo” would be correct. Or perhaps “always and forever.” Thank you for your assistance.
Jen,
’Semper credo’ say ‘I always believe.’ To tell someone else you could say, ‘semper crede,’ or to tell more more than one person to always believe say ‘semper credite.”
Hi. I want to get a tattoo that says “Amor in aeternum”.. But does it make any sence? Thx
Mia,
’Amor in aeternum’ is a common sentiment in Christian Latin. ‘In aeternum’ means ‘for ever’ so it should be ‘love (exists/stands/remains) for ever.’ You could also say ‘amor est aeternus’ (with or without ‘est’), ‘love is eternal.’
Hi Dennis
I was wondering about what “Family for ever” is in latin. I saw a tattoo on a dude which said: “In Aeternum Familia”. Is this incorrect or is “Familia in aeternum” the right way to say it? Or is there a theird way and better way? Thanks a lot
Andreas,
Word order doesn’t matter here. ‘In aeternum familia’ sounds a little grander or more poetic.
Hi,
I really would like to get a tattoo that says “Live without regrets, love without fear” in Latin or possibly “Live with no regrets, love without fear” , whichever is shorter nd makes more sense. Could you help me out with the translation? \
Thank you!
Megan,
You could try some variation of this: ‘vive sine paenitentia; ama sine timore.’
Does anyone know if “nihil sine causa” is correct for everything happens for a reason? im told this translates to “nothing without reason” is that correct?
‘Nihil sine causa’ sounds like a very elegant and classical way of saying just that. There’s an implied verb (as often in Latin) such as ‘is.’
Hello Dennis. Looks like you are the man to go to for a translation to Latin. Would you be willing to try,
“True to My Own Soul“
and “Sing to God”?
Thank you!
Mike,
For faithful to my own soul I might say: ‘fidelis animae meae.’ Sing to god can be taken from the Vulgate translation of the Psalms: ‘cantate Deo.’ That’s plural. For the singular use ‘canta.’
I want to check my latin phrase before I get it tattooed.
Viam inveniam aut faciam
I shall find a way or make one.
Is there a better way of saying that and have I got it right? Pleeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeease let me know.
:):):):):):):):):):):)
Ms Book,
Perfect.
Hello Dennis. You seem to be the man to ask for a translation. My boyfriend is looking to get a tattoo in Latin but it’s hard to find a reliable source for translation. I decided to look as well but I’m having trouble, as I can figure out each word but have no idea how to put it together. He would like the tattoo to read: ‘live life free’ or ‘live your life free’ or ‘live your life with freedom’ whichever one sounds more grandiose with a nice flow. Your help would be much appreciated as I don’t want him to end up with some nonsensical incorrect translation. Thanks in Advance! C
C,
I always like to use classical phrases or make references to classical authors whenever possible. So many efforts at writing Latin (for tattoos or anything else) seem ambiguous or like translationese (just English translated badly into Latin), and there’s a perfect one for this. Cicero, the great Roman orator and statesman, wrote, ‘Quid est enim libertas? Potestas vivendi ut velis.’ ‘For what is liberty? The power of living as you wish.’ From this we can distill a nice motto: ‘vive ut velis,’ i.e., ‘live as you wish’ or ‘live how you want to.’
Dennis thank you
I was fairly sure it was okay but its nice to be sure before doing the permenant. lol
Hi Dennis,
I am trying to translate “always faithful to the one i love” into latin, but I am having a very hard time. Any insight you can give me would be greatly appreciated. Also, is “Sine amore, nihil sum” the translation of without love, I am nothing. Thanks for your help.
Shane:
‘Semper fidelis in amores et delicias (meas).’ The adjective ‘meas’ is optional. A shorter version can be attained by dropping one of the nouns after ‘in’, and saying simply, ‘semper fidelis in amores (meos)’ or ‘semper fidelis in delicias (meas).’ (Note the difference in spelling between ‘meos’ and ‘meas.’ Be very careful with this. If you’re confused, you’re better off not using it.) The motto of the USMC is semper fidelis, ‘always faithful,’ and ‘amores et deliciae’ is very evocative of romantic love in Roman writers. Literally it means something like ‘my loves and delights,’ but that’s how you say ‘the one I love’ in Latin. Otherwise you have to say something unattractive like ‘semper fidelis in quem amo.’
This site is fantastic, I am truly in awe of your talent and knowledge.
I am a student interested in ancient latin, hoping to have a phrase translated if you would be so kind–
“You’ve got to lose to know how to win.”
I understand it is slang and colloquial English, but the closest translation would be fantastic! Thank you so very much.
Bryanna,
I would say ‘vincendo discis vincere,’ i.e., ‘by losing you learn to win.’
Hey Dennis
I want to have a tattoo with the words
“Blood is not water” or the more common
“Blood is thicker than water”
I know the last one you have already answered but is there a shorter version?
I want to get the tattoo in a double helix with the latin phrase in one of the strings and the other in string in english
Andy,
How about ‘sanguis non aqua’?
Dennis, I was wanting to get the phrase “i am stronger” tattooed and I have no idea what the correct translation is. I wanted to use fortius from the olympic motto to mean stronger, but I am not sure what to use for “i am.” I was thinking “sum fortius”, but I honestly have no idea.
What do you think is best?
Thanks
Ty,
I hope you haven’t done this yet because ‘fortius’ is neuter. ‘Sum fortius’ would say ‘I am a stronger thing.’ In the Olympic motto it’s being used as an adverb and so means ‘more strongly.’ Both the masculine and feminine form are the same, and so can be used by either men or women. That form is ‘fortior.’ You want ‘sum fortior.’