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Can anyone please translate "Open your mind."? I need an accurate translation for a tattoo and I'm not that good at latin since I just started learning it. Open your mind should be translated literally to "Open your mind" since it is not meant in a religious way or in any way reffering to god. I would explain it as my unconscious self reminding me not to forget that the mind goes way beyond what we perceive, for me the mind being the soul, it has the ability to grow with everything it experiences. It's more spiritual for me than religious because the way I look at it, opening the mind would mean to obtain a higher consciousness. So instead of writing all of that I just want it to say "Open your mind" since that's what all that I wrote above sums up to. Thanks :)

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  • "Open your mind" in what context? Do you want a general idea of being open-minded? Are you threatening somebody with cracking their skull open? Do you want to express a wish that other people should follow, or are you commanding somebody to reveal the contents of their mind to you? How many people are you addressing -- are you telling yourself to be an example to others, are you telling the world to bend to your will?
    – Nickimite
    Dec 23, 2019 at 0:58
  • Also, if you were to try translating it yourself, that would give us a bit of insight into what you're looking for. A dictionary like Whitaker's Words can be very useful for this kind of thing.
    – Nickimite
    Dec 23, 2019 at 0:59
  • I tried translating it myslef but I don't know much latin and i want it to be accurate.. I got something like "aperire animo" but i don't know if it's correct. Also "Open your mind" would be addressed to me as if I'm telling myself to open my soul/spirit(mind) or be open to(like shift to) a higher consciousness. I still want it to be "Open your mind" though as if somebody is saying it to me. Something like me telling myself to open my mind to myself and see what is in it. I don't know if you'll understand what I mean since I am pretty bad at explaining but this is the closest i can get to it.
    – Ana Marija Bursic
    Dec 23, 2019 at 10:09

2 Answers 2

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In my view “aperire animo” is a good choice. Here “aperire” is used as a passive imperative, not as an infinitive. A litteral translation is: “get opened up in your mind”. I did not find it in classical Latin.

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    Is animō meant to be dative or ablative? I would have expected an internal accusative, especially in a sort of poetic context like this.
    – Draconis ♦
    Dec 24, 2019 at 1:30
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    @Draconis Ablative of respect? This translation seems OK to me, though at first sight it looks wrong because aperire is natually taken as an infinitive.
    – TKR
    Dec 24, 2019 at 1:51
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    @TKR I also think that “animo” is ablative of respect, just like “animo” in the sentence of Cicero: “Concedo esse deos; doce me igitur unde sint ubi sint quales sint corpore animo vita” (Cic. N.D. 1.65.1): ‘I admit that gods exist; so teach me where they are from, where they are, of what sort they are with respect to body, mind and life’.
    – Hendrik Walvoort
    Dec 24, 2019 at 9:57
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    I'm not convinced that this would sound good to a Roman, and I am convinced this would be incorrectly parsed by almost anyone with a smattering of Latin. Why not just go with the readily intelligible, "Aperi mentem"?
    – brianpck
    Dec 30, 2019 at 16:00
  • I agree with @brianpck. This is too literal to be accurate.
    – cmw ♦
    May 14 at 2:22
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Are you on a religious kick? People speak of opening the mind/ soul/ spirit when they are seeking/ questioning faith. To make the spirit susceptible to faith, then.

In Latin the imperative (a command), "molli" (singular)/ mollite (plural) = be susceptible; fidei (feminine; dative of "fides" = "faith"); "animus" = "spirit"; here, required in the accusative for a direct object, "animum".

Giving: "molli animum fidei".

Alternatively, passive infinitive, "molliri" = "to be susceptible".

(Faith is not a concept limited to religion. It could be faith in leaders/ people/ self.)

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    Mollio is a transitive verb meaning "soften (something)", so this would mean "Make (something) soft by faith". Anyway "Be susceptible to faith" seems different from "Open your mind".
    – TKR
    Dec 24, 2019 at 17:42
  • @TKR: A softening of attitude be it cynicism or disbelief might make the student susceptible to positive influence, wouldn't you agree? A literal translation of "open your mind" would mean what, to a Roman? The great Roman writers were brilliant at massaging meanings to provide definitions, not listed in dictionaries. I'm not that clever; but, even Pock.Ox. gives "mollis" (adj) = "susceptible".
    – tony
    Dec 24, 2019 at 19:08
  • I share TKR's doubts about the verb mollio. At the very least, you'd need to supply some direct object. The use of animum/animos with mollio is well attested, though you should look at the attested passages in OLD or Lewis & Short to evaluate how well the Latin usage aligns with the English meaning that you're aiming at – or how well you judge that attested usage can be 'massaged' to suit the English meaning.
    – cnread
    Dec 24, 2019 at 21:20
  • @cnread: How about: "molli animum fidei" or just "molliri" = "to be susceptible"? It "massages" to "having an open mind", doesn't it? When a literal translation won't work, it's lateral-thinking time. If not "mollire", then?
    – tony
    Dec 25, 2019 at 0:15

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