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 his Georgics 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 and Sydney 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 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 héritier 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 | Motto of the European Gendarmerie Force. | |
| lex parsimoniae | law of succinctness | also known as Occam's Razor. |
| lex rex | the law 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 (cf. 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 Universität Berlin. |
| Libertas Quae Sera Tamen | freedom which however late | Liberty even when it comes late; Motto of Minas Gerais, Brazil. |
| Libertas Securitas Justitia | Liberty Security Justice | Motto of the Frontex. |
| libra | balance; scales | Its abbreviation is used as a unit of weight, the pound. |
| loco citato | in the place cited | More fully written in loco citato. See also opere citato. |
| 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 show fonts (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 | 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 pun based 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 orbis | Light of the mind, light of the world | Motto of Sonoma State University |
| 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 "וַיֹּאמֶר אֱלֹהִים, יְהִי אוֹר; וַיְהִי-אוֹר" (And God said: 'Let there be light.' And there was light). Motto of the University of Washington. |
| lux tua nos ducat | Your Light Guides Us | Motto of St. Julian's School, Carcavelos, Portugal |
| lux, veritas, virtus | light, truth, courage | Motto of Northeastern University |
Read more about this topic: List Of Latin Phrases (full)