List of Latin phrases (H)

This page lists English translations of notable Latin phrases, such as veni vidi vici and et cetera. Some of the phrases are themselves translations of Greek phrases, as Greek rhetoric and literature reached its peak centuries before the rise of ancient Rome.

This list covers the letter H. See List of Latin phrases for the main list.

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References

H

Latin	Translation	Notes
habeas corpus	You should have the body	A legal term from the 14th century or earlier. Refers to a number of legal writs to bring a person before a court or judge, most commonly habeas corpus ad subjiciendum (you may have the body to bring up). Commonly used as the general term for a prisoner's legal right to challenge the legality of their detention. (Corpus here is used in a similar sense to corpus delicti, referring to the substance of the reason for detention rather than a physical human body.)
habemus papam	we have a pope	Used after a Catholic Church papal election to announce publicly a successful ballot to elect a new pope.
Habent sua fata libelli	Books have their destiny [according to the capabilities of the reader]	Terentianus Maurus, De Litteris, De Syllabis, De Metris, 1:1286.
hac lege	with this law
haec olim meminisse iuvabit	one day, this will be pleasing to remember	Commonly rendered in English as "One day, we'll look back on this and smile". From Virgil's Aeneid 1.203. Also, motto of the Jefferson Society.
Hannibal ad portas	Hannibal at the gates	Found in Cicero's first Philippic and in Livy's Ab urbe condita Hannibal was a fierce enemy of Rome who almost brought them to defeat. Sometimes rendered "Hannibal ante portas", with verisimilar meaning: "Hannibal before the gates"
haud ignota loquor	I speak not of unknown things	Thus, "I say no things that are unknown". From Virgil's Aeneid, 2.91.
hic abundant leones	here lions abound	Written on uncharted territories of old maps; see also: here be dragons.
hic et nunc	here and now	The imperative motto for the satisfaction of desire. "I need it, Here and Now"
hic jacet (HJ)	here lies	Also rendered hic iacet. Written on gravestones or tombs, preceding the name of the deceased. Equivalent to hic sepultus (here is buried), and sometimes combined into hic jacet sepultus (HJS), "here lies buried".
hic locus est ubi mors gaudet succurrere vitae	This is the place where death delights in helping life	A motto of many morgues or wards of anatomical pathology.
hic manebimus optime	here we'll stay excellently	According to Titus Livius the phrase was pronounced by Marcus Furius Camillus, addressing the senators who intended to abandon the city, invaded by Gauls, circa 390 BC. It is used today to express the intent to keep one's position even if the circumstances appear adverse.
hic sunt dracones	here there are dragons	Written on a globe engraved on two conjoined halves of ostrich eggs, dated to 1504.
hic sunt leones	here there are lions	Written on uncharted territories of old maps.
hinc et inde	from both sides
hinc illae lacrimae	hence those tears	From Terence, Andria, line 125. Originally literal, referring to the tears shed by Pamphilus at the funeral of Chrysis, it came to be used proverbially in the works of later authors, such as Horace (Epistula XIX, 41).
hinc itur ad astra	from here the way leads to the stars	Written on the wall of the old astronomical observatory of Vilnius University, Lithuania, and the university's motto.
hinc robur et securitas	herefore strength and safety	Motto of the Central Bank of Sweden.
historia vitae magistra	history, the teacher of life	From Cicero's De Oratore, II, 9. Also "history is the mistress of life".
hoc age	do this	Motto of Bradford Grammar School
hoc est bellum	This is war
hoc est Christum cognoscere, beneficia eius cognoscere	To know Christ is to know his benefits	Famous dictum by the Reformer Melanchthon in his Loci Communes of 1521
hoc est enim corpus meum	For this is my Body	The words of Jesus reiterated in Latin during the Roman Catholic Eucharist. Sometimes simply written as "Hoc est corpus meum" or "This is my body".
hoc genus omne	All that crowd/people	From Horace's Satires, 1/2:2. Refers to the crowd at Tigellio's funeral (c. 40–39 BC). Not to be confused with et hoc genus omne (English: and all that sort of thing).
hodie mihi, cras tibi	Today it's me, tomorrow it will be you	Inscription that can be seen on tombstones dating from the Middle Ages, meant to outline the ephemerality of life.
hominem pagina nostra sapit	It is of man that my page smells	From Martial's Epigrams, Book 10, No. 4, Line 10; stating his purpose in writing.
hominem non morbum cura	Treat the Man, not the Disease	Motto of the Far Eastern University – Institute of Nursing
homo bulla	man is a bubble	Varro (116 BC – 27 BC), in the opening line of the first book of Rerum Rusticarum Libri Tres, wrote "quod, ut dicitur, si est homo bulla, eo magis senex" (for if, as they say, man is a bubble, all the more so is an old man)[1] later reintroduced by Erasmus in his Adagia, a collection of sayings published in 1572.
homo homini lupus	man [is a] wolf to man	First attested in Plautus' Asinaria (lupus est homo homini). The sentence was drawn on by Hobbes in Leviathan as a concise expression of his human nature view.
Homo minister et interpres naturae	Man, the servant and interpreter of nature	Motto of the Lehigh University
homo praesumitur bonus donec probetur malus	One is innocent until proven guilty	See also: presumption of innocence.
homo sum humani a me nihil alienum puto	I am a human being; nothing human is strange to me	From Terence's Heauton Timorumenos (The Self-Tormentor) (163 BC). Originally "strange" or "foreign" (alienum) was used in the sense of "irrelevant", as this line was a response to the speaker being told to mind his own business, but it is now commonly used to advocate respecting different cultures and being humane in general. Puto (I consider) is not translated because it is meaningless outside of the line's context within the play.
homo unius libri (timeo)	(I fear) a man of one book	Attributed to Thomas Aquinas
honestas ante honores	honesty before glory	Motto of King George V School (Hong Kong)
honor virtutis praemium	esteem is the reward of virtue	Motto of Arnold School, Blackpool, England
honoris causa	for the sake of honor	Said of an honorary title, such as "Doctor of Science honoris causa".
hora fugit	the hour flees	See tempus fugit.
hora somni (h.s.)	at the hour of sleep	Medical shorthand for "at bedtime".
horas non numero nisi serenas	I do not count the hours unless they are sunny	A common inscription on sundials.
horresco referens	I shudder as I tell	From Virgil's Aeneid, 2.204, on the appearance of the sea-serpents who kill the Trojan priest Laocoön and his sons.
horribile dictu	horrible to say	That is, "a horrible thing to relate". Cf. mirabile dictu.
hortus in urbe	A garden in the city	Motto of the Chicago Park District, a playful allusion to the city's motto, urbs in horto, q.v.
hortus siccus	A dry garden	A collection of dry, preserved plants.
hostis humani generis	enemy of the human race	Cicero defined pirates in Roman law as being enemies of humanity in general.
humilitas occidit superbiam	humility conquers pride
hypotheses non fingo	I do not fabricate hypotheses	From Newton, Principia. Less literally, "I do not assert that any hypotheses are true".

References

Notes

1. Res Rusticae – De agri cultura

Sources

• Adeleye, Gabriel G. (1999). Thomas J. Sienkewicz; James T. McDonough, Jr., eds. World Dictionary of Foreign Expressions. Wauconda, IL: Bolchazy-Carducci Publishers, Inc. ISBN 0865164223.
• Hardon, John, Fr., Modern Catholic Dictionary
• Stone, Jon R. (1996). Latin for the Illiterati. London & New York: Routledge. ISBN 0415917751.