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. |
| 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 | |
| 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 is at the gates | Roman parents would tell their misbehaving children this, invoking their fear of Hannibal. |
| Hannibal ante portas | Hannibal before the gates | Refers to wasting time while the enemy is already here. Attributed to Cicero. |
| 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 | 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, "here lies buried". |
| 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 uncharted territories of old maps. |
| 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 robur et securitas | herefore strength and safety | Motto of the Central Bank of Sweden. |
| historia vitae magistra | history, the teacher of life | From Cicero, Tusculanas, 2, 16. Also "history is the mistress of life". |
| hoc age | do this | Motto of Bradford Grammar School, often purposefully mistranslated by pupils as "Just do it!". |
| 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 | This is my Body | The words of Jesus reiterated in Latin during the Roman Catholic Eucharist: "Hoc est corpus" |
| hodie mihi, cras tibi | Today it's me, tomorrow it will be you | |
| 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) later reintroduced by Erasmus in his Adagia, a collection of sayings published in 1572. |
| homo homini lupus | man 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 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, Heautontimoroumenos. 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 |
| honestes ante honores | honesty before glory | Motto of King George V school, Hong Kong, China |
| 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 | 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. |
| 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". |
Read more about this topic: Hannibal Ad Portas