Please translate "Serviamus in veritate". I think it means We serve the truth, but some say that it means We serve in truth.
This is a motto that I'd like to have translated. Thanks, in advance
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Thank you all so much for taking the time to reply. You have inspired me to start learning Latin.– Jean McCommented Jan 20, 2022 at 6:52
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3 Answers
The word serviamus is in the subjunctive, rather than the indicative. If it were in the indicative it would mean we serve, but in the subjunctive, it means may we serve…, or let us serve….
The prepositional phrase in vertitate means in truth. In order for it to mean, "May we serve the truth…", it would have to be in the dative (veritati) without a preposition.
Therefore, it might be translated as:
May we serve in truth.
answered Nov 26, 2021 at 11:39
Adding to Expedito's answer: "In truth" sounds a bit strange in modern English, but this motto is presumably an allusion to John 4:23, in the Latin (Vulgate) translation: veri adoratores adorabunt Patrem in spiritu et veritate (KJV: the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth).
Googling this motto brings one to the site of this secondary school in Galway, Ireland, where it says:
Our Crest declares that we serve God in truth”Serviamus in veritate”
Looks like rather than translating literally they chose to paraphrase.
