10 votes
Accepted

Meaning of Latin expression in the law context

The Latin literally means "we look at the meaning, not the words". Or, more idiomatically, "we follow the spirit of the law rather than the letter". This seems to have been a ...
  • 57.9k
10 votes

Nonne "a fortiori, a priori, a posteriori" solecismi sunt?

In classical Latin, the ablative of comparatives could end on -i, although -e is probably more common. Here are a few quotations that I think must be conceded to contain ablatives: Cornelius Nepos, ...
  • 19.3k
8 votes

Where does the phrase "mors omnia solvit" come from?

I believe the earliest reference is in Jenkin's Eight Centuries of Reports. At the end of Case II on page 160, the text appears: Mors omnia solvit, infinitum in jure reprobatur. "Death dissolves ...
8 votes
Accepted

What is the opposite of 'sui generis'?

Unus multorum means "one of many". I gather that the phrase is comparable to "average Joe" in English, or "just one of the crowd"—the opposite of the uniqueness conveyed by sui generis. My Latin is ...
  • 15.2k
8 votes
Accepted

How does "jus" distinguish between "duty" and "right"

The normal word for "duty" in Latin isn't ius, but officium, and it's well attested for this meaning from Plautus to Suetonius (and later), in prose and poetry alike. Cicero's De Officiis is always ...
  • 46.5k
7 votes
Accepted

Translate "emptio spei" and "emptio rei speratae" to English

Emptio is a purchase—either the act of purchasing or the thing purchased. It's from the stem of the verb emō 'to buy', plus the action noun suffix -tiō. The -p- is epenthetic, and a regular ...
  • 7,663
6 votes

Nonne "a fortiori, a priori, a posteriori" solecismi sunt?

My impression is that fortiori, priori and posteriori are ablative forms, but they have been declined badly — from the classical point of view. Making this mistake is quite easy. Both -e and -ī ...
6 votes

correct spelling of jus domicilii, jus soli, and jus nexi

In terms of correct Latin grammar the answer is no, because nexus is a different type of noun than domicilium and solum. The latter are second-declension nouns, so their genitive ("of") form ends in -...
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6 votes
Accepted

Translating "Contra principia negantem non est disputandum"

My background studying medieval scholastic Philosophy leads me to translate principia with the somewhat redundant phrase "first principles." The phrase is common in Scholastic philosophy (...
  • 37.8k
6 votes
Accepted

Comparing ius sacrum and fas

Recent research has shed some new light on this question. A dissertation that came out of Rutgers in 2007 called the whole idea of ius sacrum into question. Johnson takes a look at the evidence behind ...
  • 46.5k
6 votes
Accepted

Why the future perfect tense in "quamdiu se bene gesserit"?

In Gustavus Fischer's Details of Syntax, a number of pages are devoted to the uses of tenses in temporal clauses. It is fairly dense reading, but the most pertinent section is sec. 578, rem. 61. I ...
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6 votes
Accepted

Proper use of "tenaciter servanda"

No, that translation is not grammatically valid. It means roughly "belief of law, long use, to be saved firmly" but it is somewhat incoherent. Let me go through a translation process step by step. As ...
5 votes
Accepted

If ex postfacto is after the fact, what is during the fact?

Perhaps surprisingly, ex post factō isn't actually a valid Latin phrase on its own: it's got two prepositions in a row, and Latin doesn't allow that. So why do people use it? Well, in legal Latin, a ...
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5 votes
Accepted

Where does the phrase "mors omnia solvit" come from?

This most certainly seems to be a legal phrase. Although I can't find the exact phrase in the classical corpus, as Pé de Leão shows above, it had passed into formal, legal terminology by the ...
  • 8,471
5 votes
Accepted

Interpreting symbol at the end of entries in Latin probate act book?

Could it be et cetera? That is often abbreviated as e(t)c in manuscripts: although I've not seen this exact form before, and Cappelli does not seem to have it (consulted at the University of Cologne), ...
  • 19.3k
4 votes

What does 'iure civili' mean in Apuleius VI.23, when Cupid and Psyche get married?

This one seems pretty straightforward to me? The notion is of a proper jus civilis marriage, as opposed to the commonlawish jus gentium. It's a sort of joke, right in Apuleius' wheelhouse. Jus ...
4 votes

What is the opposite of 'sui generis'?

Since there has been no other answer, let me expand my comment into an answer. I am not familiar with any technical term with a meaning opposite to sui generis. If you want an adjective of similar ...
4 votes

"Argumentum ad" vs. "argumentum a"

Here are two apparent counterexamples that I think are not really counterexamples. I post them here to give people an opportunity to confirm or refute my understanding of them (I'll be grateful for ...
  • 15.2k
3 votes

Quando "a fortiori" ortum est?

Auctor libri qui inscribitur Dizionario Storico-Giuridico Romano nos refert ad philosophos medii aevi, Latham, Wordlist, s. v. 'a, ab' annos indicat 'c. 1337, c. 1343' sine auctorum indicatione. ...
3 votes
Accepted

Latin term for a position which someone holds by dint of holding another position

You would say that Welby is an ex officio member (or a member ex officio) of those two bodies. In this case, the Latin noun officium means 'A regular (esp. official) employment, charge or position, ...
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3 votes

Where does the phrase "mors omnia solvit" come from?

This is more of a comment than an answer, but perhaps someone will find it interesting. The words mors omnia solvit would scan perfectly as a part of a hexameter or pentameter line. This made me ...
3 votes

How to say "search warrant" in Latin?

I'm not aware of a Latin word for a "search warrant" in general, but an "arrest warrant" is known as a capias: literally, "you should seize [this person]". In Latin it's a verb, but it's used as a ...
  • 57.9k
3 votes

Is there Latin phrase for english expression "default" or "by default" or "defaulty"

This answer concerns writing in Latin, not using a Latin phrase within an English sentence, as that is how I construed the original question. I'm trying to adhere to classically usage or something ...
2 votes

'Concepturus' and 'nasciturus' in legal terminology

The use of concepturus for a child that is not yet conceived is quite rare. Using Google, I find a handful of Spanish and Italian sources, such as this Italian legal dictionary: Il termine designa ...
2 votes

'Concepturus' and 'nasciturus' in legal terminology

Concipior 'to be conceived' appears to think of itself as a Deponent Verb according to Liber Primus, or, A First Book of Latin Exercises by Joseph Dana, A. M. (1827). p128 of 202 (= print 125) The ...
  • 8,535
2 votes

Latin for "vexatious Litigant"

A litigand is litigator. For "vexatious" you could use vexabilis or vexativus (both exist according to Lewis&Short). So you could say litigator vexabilis or litigator vexativus.
  • 2,894
1 vote

How to say "search warrant" in Latin?

It seems perquisitio is a Latin term that might be associated with a Search Warrant. At least that is the term that this encyclopedia of Roman Law associates to the expression "search for stolen ...
  • 12.2k
1 vote

How does ancient and modern arbitration differ?

I think they are quite identical. Lewis & Short has for arbiter (http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.04.0059%3Aalphabetic+letter%3DA%3Aentry+group%3D68%3Aentry%...
  • 1,166

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