List of Latin phrases (S)

This page is one of a series listing English translations of notable Latin phrases, such as veni vidi vici and et cetera. Some of the phrases are themselves translations of Greek phrases, as ancient Greek rhetoric and literature started centuries before the beginning of Latin literature in ancient Rome.

This list covers the letter S. See List of Latin phrases for the main list.

S

Latin	Translation	Notes
saltus in demonstrando||leap in explaining||a leap in logic, by which a necessary part of an equation is omitted.
salus in arduis||a stronghold (or refuge) in difficulties||a Roman Silver Age maxim, also the school motto of Wellingborough School.
salus populi suprema lex esto	the welfare of the people is to be the highest law	From Cicero's De Legibus, book III, part III, sub. VIII. Quoted by John Locke in his Second Treatise, On Civil Government, to describe the proper organization of government. Also the state motto of Missouri.
salva veritate	with truth intact	Refers to two expressions that can be interchanged without changing the truth value of the statements in which they occur.
Salvator Mundi	Savior of the World	Christian epithet, usually referring to Jesus. The title of paintings by Albrecht Dürer and Leonardo da Vinci.
salvo errore et omissione (s.e.e.o.)||save for error and omission||Appears on statements of "account currents".
salvo honoris titulo (SHT)||save for title of honor||
Sancta Sedes||Holy Chair||More literally, "sacred seat". Refers to the Papacy or the Holy See.
sancta simplicitas||holy innocence||Or "sacred simplicity".
sancte et sapienter||with holiness and with wisdom||Also sancte sapienter (holiness, wisdom), motto of several institutions.
sanctum sanctorum	Holy of Holies	referring to a more sacred and/or guarded place, within a lesser guarded, yet also holy location.
sapere aude	dare to be wise	From Horace's Epistularum liber primus, Epistle II, line 40. Popularized by its use in Kant's What is Enlightenment? to define the Enlightenment. Frequently used in mottos; also the name of an Australian Heavy Metal band.
sapienti sat||enough for the wise||From Plautus. Indicates that something can be understood without any need for explanation, as long as the listener has enough wisdom or common sense. Often extended to dictum sapienti sat est ("enough has been said for the wise", commonly translated as "a word to the wise is enough").
sapientia et doctrina||wisdom and learning||Motto of Fordham University, New York.
sapientia et eloquentia||wisdom and eloquence|| One of the mottos of the Ateneo schools in the Philippines. Motto of the Minerva Society
sapientia et veritas||wisdom and truth||Motto of Christchurch Girls' High School, New Zealand.
sapientia et virtus||wisdom and virtue||Motto of University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong.
sapientia, pax, fraternitas||Wisdom, Peace, Fraternity||Motto of Universidad de las Américas, Puebla, Cholula, México.
scientiae cedit mare||The sea yields to knowledge||Motto of the United States Coast Guard Academy.
scientia ac labore||knowledge through [hard] work, or: by means of knowledge and hard work, or: through knowledge and [hard] work||Motto of several institutions
scientia, aere perennius||knowledge, more lasting than bronze||unknown origin, probably adapted from Horace's ode III (Exegi monumentum aere perennius).
scientia cum religione||religion and knowledge united||Motto of St Vincent's College, Potts Point
scientia et sapientia||knowledge and wisdom||motto of Illinois Wesleyan University
scientia imperii decus et tutamen||knowledge is the adornment and protection of the Empire||Motto of Imperial College London
scientia ipsa potentia est||knowledge itself is power||Stated originally by Sir Francis Bacon in Meditationes Sacrae (1597), which in modern times is often paraphrased as scientia potentia est or "knowledge is power."
scientia vincere tenebras||conquering darkness by science||motto of several institutions
scio||I know||
scire quod sciendum	knowledge which is worth having	motto of now defunct publisher Small, Maynard & Company
scribimus indocti doctique poemata passim||Each desperate blockhead dares to write||as translated by Philip Francis. From Horace, Epistularum liber secundus (1, 117) and quoted in Fielding's Tom Jones; lit: "Learned or not, we shall write poems without distinction"
scuto amoris divini||by the shield of God's love||The motto of Skidmore College
seculo seculorum||forever and ever||
sed ipse spiritus postulat pro nobis, gemitibus inenarrabilibus||But the same Spirit intercedes incessantly for us, with inexpressible groans||Romans 8:26
sede vacante	with the seat being vacant	The "seat" is the Holy See, and the vacancy refers to the interregnum between two popes.
sedes apostolica||apostolic chair||Synonymous with Sancta Sedes.
sedes incertae||seat (i.e. location) uncertain||Used in biological classification to indicate that there is no agreement as to which higher order grouping a taxon should be placed into. Abbreviated sed. incert.
semel in anno licet insanire||once in a year one is allowed to go crazy||Concept expressed by various authors, such as Seneca, Saint Augustine and Horace. It became proverbial during the Middle ages.
semper ad meliora||always towards better things||Motto of several institutions.
semper ardens||always burning||Motto of Carl Jacobsen and name of a line of beers by Danish brewery Carlsberg.
semper eadem||always the same||personal motto of Elizabeth I, appears above her royal coat of arms. Used as motto of Elizabeth College, Guernsey, Channel Islands, which was founded by Elizabeth I, and of Ipswich School, to whom Elizabeth granted a royal charter.
semper excelsius||always higher||Motto of the K.A.V. Lovania Leuven.
semper fidelis	always faithful	Motto of several institutions. One of the most well known institutions that uses this as a motto is the United States Marine Corps.
semper fortis||always brave||Motto of the United States Navys' Submarine Service.
semper idem||always the same||Motto of Underberg.
semper in excretia sumus solim profundum variat||We're always in the manure; only the depth varies.||Lord de Ramsey, House of Lords, 21 January 1998
semper instans||always threatening||Motto of 846 NACS Royal Navy.
semper invicta||always invincible||Motto of Warsaw.
semper liber||always free||Motto of the city of Victoria, British Columbia.
semper paratus||always prepared||Motto of several institutions. One of the most well known institutions that uses this as a motto is the United States Coast Guard.
semper primus||always first||
semper reformanda||always in need of being reformed||A phrase deriving from the Nadere Reformatie movement in the seventeenth century Dutch Reformed Church and widely but informally used in Reformed and Presbyterian churches today. It refers to the conviction of certain Reformed Protestant theologians that the church must continually re-examine itself in order to maintain its purity of doctrine and practice. The term first appeared in print in Jodocus van Lodenstein, Beschouwinge van Zion (Contemplation of Zion), Amsterdam, 1674.
semper ubi sub ubi||always where under where||A common English-New Latin translation joke. The phrase is nonsensical in Latin, but the English translation is a pun on "always wear underwear".
semper vigilans||always vigilant||Motto of several institutions. Also the motto of the city of San Diego, California.
semper vigilo||always vigilant||The motto of Scottish Police Forces, Scotland.
Senatus Populusque Romanus (SPQR)	The Senate and the People of Rome	The official name of the Roman Republic. "SPQR" was carried on battle standards by the Roman legions. In addition to being an ancient Roman motto, it remains the motto of the modern city of Rome.
sensu lato||with the broad, or general, meaning||Less literally, "in the wide sense".
sensu stricto cf. stricto sensu||"with the tight meaning"||Less literally, "in the strict sense".
sequere pecuniam||follow the money||In an effort to understand why things may be happening contrary to expectations, or even in alignment with them, this idiom suggests that keeping track of where money is going may show the basis for the observed behavior. Similar in spirit to the phrase cui bono (who gains?) or cui prodest (who advances?), but outside those phrases' historically legal context.
servabo fidem||Keeper of the faith||I will keep the faith.
serviam	I will serve	The answer of St. Michael the Archangel to the non serviam, "I will not serve" of Satan, when the angels were tested by God on whether they will serve an inferior being, a man, Jesus, as their Lord.
servus servorum Dei||servant of the servants of God||A title for the pope.
sesquipedalia verba||words a foot and a half long||From Horace's Ars Poetica, "proicit ampullas et sesquipedalia verba" ("he throws down his high-flown language and his foot-and-a-half-long words"). A self-referential jab at long words and needlessly elaborate language in general.
Si hoc legere scis nimium eruditionis habes||If you can read this, you have too much education.||
si omnes... ego non	if all ones... not I
si peccasse negamus fallimur et nulla est in nobis veritas||if we refuse to make a mistake, we are deceived, and there's no truth in us||From Christopher Marlowe's The Tragical History of Doctor Faustus, where the phrase is translated "if we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and there's no truth in us". (cf. 1 John 1:8 in the New Testament)
si quaeris peninsulam amoenam circumspice	if you seek a delightful peninsula, look around	Said to have been based on the tribute to architect Christopher Wren in St Paul's Cathedral, London, which reads si monumentum requiris circumspice ("if you seek a memorial, look around"). State motto of Michigan, adopted in 1835.
si quid novisti rectius istis, candidus imperti; si nil, his utere mecum.||if you can better these principles, tell me; if not, join me in following them||Horace, Epistles I:6, 67–68
si tacuisses, philosophus mansisses ||If you had kept your silence, you would have stayed a philosopher||This quote is often attributed to the Latin philosopher Boethius of the late fifth and early sixth centuries. It translates literally as, "If you had been silent, you would have remained a philosopher." The phrase illustrates a common use of the subjunctive verb mood. Among other functions it expresses actions contrary to fact. Sir Humphrey Appleby translated it to the PM as: "If you'd kept your mouth shut we might have thought you were clever".
si vales valeo (SVV)||if you are well, I am well||A common beginning for ancient Roman letters. Also extended to si vales bene est ego valeo ("if you are well, that is good; I am well"), abbreviated to SVBEEV. The practice fell out of fashion and into obscurity with the decline in Latin literacy.
si vis amari ama||If you want to be loved, love||This quote is often attributed to the Roman philosopher Seneca.
si vis pacem, para bellum	if you want peace, prepare for war	From Publius Flavius Vegetius Renatus, De Re Militari. Origin of the name parabellum for some ammunition and firearms, such as the Luger Parabellum. (Similar to igitur qui desiderat pacem, praeparet bellum)
sic	thus	Or "just so". States that the preceding quoted material appears exactly that way in the source, despite any errors of spelling, grammar, usage, or fact that may be present. Used only for previous quoted text; ita or similar must be used to mean "thus" when referring to something about to be stated.
sic et non||thus and not||More simply, "yes and no".
sic gorgiamus allos subjectatos nunc||we gladly feast on those who would subdue us||Mock-Latin motto of The Addams Family.
sic infit||so it begins||
sic itur ad astra||thus you shall go to the stars||From Virgil, Aeneid book IX, line 641. Possibly the source of the ad astra phrases. Motto of several institutions.
sic passim||Thus here and there||Used when referencing books; see passim.
sic semper erat, et sic semper erit||Thus has it always been, and thus shall it ever be||
sic semper tyrannis	thus always to tyrants	Attributed to Brutus at the time of Julius Caesar's assassination, and to John Wilkes Booth at the time of Abraham Lincoln's assassination; whether it was actually said at either of these events is disputed. Shorter version from original sic semper evello mortem tyrannis ("thus always death will come to tyrants"). State motto of Virginia, adopted in 1776.
sic transit gloria mundi	thus passes the glory of the world	A reminder that all things are fleeting. During Papal Coronations, a monk reminds the pope of his mortality by saying this phrase, preceded by pater sancte ("holy father") while holding before his eyes a burning paper illustrating the passing nature of earthly glories. This is similar to the tradition of a slave in Roman triumphs whispering memento mori.
sic utere tuo ut alienum non laedas||use [what is] yours so as not to harm [what is] of others||Or "use your property in such a way that you do not damage others'". A legal maxim related to property ownership laws, often shortened to simply sic utere ("use it thus").
sic vita est||thus is life||Or "such is life". Indicates that a circumstance, whether good or bad, is an inherent aspect of living.
sidere mens eadem mutato||Though the constellations change, the mind is universal||Latin motto of the University of Sydney.
signetur (sig) or (S/)||let it be labeled||Medical shorthand
signum fidei||Sign of the Faith||Motto of the Institute of the Brothers of the Christian Schools.
silentium est aureum||silence is golden||Latinization of the English expression "silence is golden". Also Latinized as silentium est aurum ("silence is gold").
similia similibus curantur similia similibus curentur	similar things take care of similar things" let similar things take care of similar things	"like cures like" and "let like be cured by like"; the first form ("curantor") is indicative, while the second form ("curentor") is subjunctive. The indicative form is found in Paracelsus (16th century), while the subjunctive form is said by Samuel Hahnemann, founder of homeopathy, and is known as the law of similars.
similia similibus solvuntur||similar substances will dissolve similar substances||Used as a general rule in chemistry; "like dissolves like" refers to the ability of polar or non polar solvents to dissolve polar or non polar solutes respectively.
simplex sigillum veri||simplicity is the sign of truth||expresses a sentiment akin to Keep It Simple, Stupid
sine anno (s.a.)||without a year||Used in bibliographies to indicate that the date of publication of a document is unknown.
sine die||without a day||Originally from old common law texts, where it indicates that a final, dispositive order has been made in the case. In modern legal context, it means there is nothing left for the court to do, so no date for further proceedings is set.
sine ira et studio	without anger and fondness	Thus, impartially. From Tacitus, Annals 1.1.
sine loco (s.l.)||without a place||Used in bibliographies to indicate that the place of publication of a document is unknown.
sine metu ||"without fear"||Motto of Jameson Irish Whiskey
sine nomine (s.n.)	"without a name"	Used in bibliographies to indicate that the publisher of a document is unknown.
sine poena nulla lex||Without penalty, there is no law||Refers to the ineffectiveness of a law without the means of enforcement
sine prole||Without offspring|| Frequently abbreviated to s.p. in genealogical works. Also d.s.p. decessit sine prole died without offspring
sine timore aut favore||Without Fear or Favor||St.George's School, Vancouver, Canada motto
sine qua non	without which not	Used to denote something that is an essential part of the whole. See also condicio sine qua non.
sine remediis medicina debilis est||without remedies medicine is powerless||Inscription on the stained-glass in the conference hall of pharmaceutical mill in Kaunas
sine scientia ars nihil est||without knowledge, skill is nothing||Motto of The International Diving Society
sisto activitatem||I cease the activity||Phrase, used to cease the activities of the Sejm upon the liberum veto principle
sit nomine digna||may it be worthy of the name||Motto of Rhodesia
sit sine labe decus||let honour stainless be||Motto of the Brisbane Boys' College (Brisbane, Australia).
sit tibi terra levis||may the earth be light to you||Commonly used on gravestones, often contracted as S.T.T.L., the same way as today's R.I.P.
sit venia verbo||may there be forgiveness for the word||Similar to the English idiom "pardon my French".
sol iustitiae illustra nos||Sun of Justice, shine upon us||Motto of Utrecht University
sol lucet omnibus||the sun shines on everyone||Petronius, Satyricon Lybri 100
sol omnia regit||the sun rules over everything||Inscription near the entrance to Frombork Museum
sola fide	by faith alone	The material principle of the Protestant Reformation and one of the five solas, referring to the Protestant claim that the Bible teaches that men are saved by faith even without works.
sola gratia	by grace alone	A motto of the Protestant Reformation and one of the five solas, referring to the Protestant claim that salvation is an unearned gift (cf. ex gratia), not a direct result of merit.
sola lingua bona est lingua mortua||the only good language is a dead language||Example of dog Latin humor.
sola scriptura	by scripture alone	The formal principle of the Protestant Reformation and one of the five solas, referring to the Protestant idea that the Bible alone is the ultimate authority, not the pope or tradition.
sola nobilitat virtus||Virtue alone ennobles||
soli Deo gloria (S.D.G.)||glory to God alone||A motto of the Protestant Reformation and one of the five solas, referring to the idea that God is the creator of all good things and deserves all the praise for them. Johann Sebastian Bach often signed his manuscripts with the abbreviation S.D.G. to invoke this phrase, as well as with AMDG (ad maiorem Dei gloriam).
solus Christus||Christ alone||A motto of the Protestant Reformation and one of the five solas, referring to the Protestant claim that the Bible teaches that Jesus is the only mediator between God and mankind. Also rendered solo Christo ("by Christ alone").
solus ipse||I alone||
solvitur ambulando	It is solved by walking	The problem is solved by taking a walk, or by simple experiment.
Spartam nactus es; hanc exorna||your lot is cast in Sparta, be a credit to it||from Euripides's Telephus, Agamemnon to Menelaus.
specialia generalibus derogant||special departs from general||
speculum speculorum||mirror of mirrors||
spem reduxit||he has restored hope||Motto of New Brunswick.
spes vincit thronum||hope conquers (overcomes) the throne||Refers to Revelation 3:21, "To him that overcometh will I grant to sit with me in my throne, even as I also overcame, and am set down with my Father in his throne." On the John Winthrop family tombstone, Boston, Massachusetts.
spiritus mundi||spirit of the world||From The Second Coming (poem) by William Butler Yeats. Refers to Yeats' belief that each human mind is linked to a single vast intelligence, and that this intelligence causes certain universal symbols to appear in individual minds. The idea is similar to Carl Jung's concept of the collective unconscious.
spiritus ubi vult spirat||the spirit spreads wherever it wants||Refers to The Gospel of Saint John 3:8, where he mentions how Jesus told Nicodemus "The wind blows wherever it wants, and even though you can hear its noise, you don't know where it comes from or where it goes. The same thing happens to whomever has been born of the Spirit". It is the motto of Cayetano Heredia University
splendor sine occasu||brightness without setting||Loosely "splendour without diminishment" or "magnificence without ruin". Motto of British Columbia.
stamus contra malo||we stand against by evil||The motto of the Jungle Patrol in The Phantom. The phrase actually violates Latin grammar because of a mistranslation from English, as the preposition contra takes the accusative case. The correct Latin rendering of "we stand against evil" would be "stamus contra malum".
stante pede||with a standing foot||"Immediately".
stare decisis	to stand by the decided things	To uphold previous rulings, recognize precedent.
stat sua cuique dies||There is a day [turn] for everybody||Virgil, Aeneid, X 467
statim (stat)||"immediately"||Medical shorthand used following an urgent request.
status quo	the situation in which	The current condition or situation. Also status quo ante ("the situation in which [things were] before"), referring to the state of affairs prior to some upsetting event (cf. reset button technique).
status quo ante bellum	the state before the war	A common term in peace treaties.
stercus accidit||shit happens||Attributed to David Hume.
stet||let it stand||Marginal mark in proofreading to indicate that something previously deleted or marked for deletion should be retained.
stet fortuna domus||let the fortune of the house stand||First part of the motto of Harrow School, England.
stipendium peccati mors est||the reward of sin is death||From Christopher Marlowe's The Tragical History of Doctor Faustus. (See Rom 6:23, "For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.")
strenuis ardus cedunt||the heights yield to endeavour||Motto on the coat of arms of the University of Southampton, England.
stricto sensucf. sensu stricto	with the tight meaning	Less literally, "in the strict sense".
stupor mundi||the wonder of the world||The title by which Frederick II, Holy Roman Emperor, was known. More literally translated "the bewilderment of the world", or, in its original, pre-Medieval sense, "the stupidity of the world".
sua sponte	by its own accord	Legal term when a court takes up a motion on its own initiative, not because any of the parties to the case has made the motion.
sub anno||under the year||Commonly abbreviated sa, it is used in citing annals, which record events by year.
sub cruce lumen||The Light Under the Cross||Motto of the University of Adelaide, Australia. Refers to the figurative "light of learning" and the Southern Cross constellation, Crux.
sub divo||under the wide open sky||Also, "under the sky", "in the open air", "out in the open" or "outdoors". Ablative "divo" does not distinguish divus, divi, a god, from divum, divi, the sky.
sub finem||toward the end||Used in citations to refer to the end of a book, page, etc., and abbreviated 's.f.' Used after the page number or title. E.g., 'p. 20 s.f. '
sub Iove frigido	under cold Jupiter	At night; from Horace's Odes 1.1:25
sub judice	under a judge	Said of a case that cannot be publicly discussed until it is finished. Also sub iudice.
sub poena	under penalty	Commonly rendered subpoena. Said of a request, usually by a court, that must be complied with on pain of punishment. Examples include subpoena duces tecum ("take with you under penalty"), a court summons to appear and produce tangible evidence, and subpoena ad testificandum ("under penalty to testify"), a summons to appear and give oral testimony.
sub rosa	under the rose	"In secret", "privately", "confidentially" or "covertly". In the Middle Ages, a rose was suspended from the ceiling of a council chamber to indicate that what was said in the "under the rose" was not to be repeated outside. This practice originates in Greek mythology, where Aphrodite gave a rose to her son Eros, and he, in turn, gave it to Harpocrates, the god of silence, to ensure that his mother's indiscretions—or those of the gods in general, in other accounts—were kept under wraps.
sub silentio	under silence	implied but not expressly stated.
sub specie aeternitatis||under the sight of eternity||Thus, "from eternity's point of view". From Spinoza, Ethics.
sub specie Dei||under the sight of God||"from God's point of view or perspective".
sub tuum praesidium	Beneath thy compassion	Name of the oldest extant hymn to the Theotokos (Blessed Virgin Mary). Also "under your protection". A popular school motto.
Sub umbra floreo||Under the shade I flourish||National Motto of Belize, referring to the shade of the mahogany tree.
sub verbo; sub voce		Under the word or heading, as in a dictionary; abbreviated s.v.
sublimis ab unda||Raised from the waves||Motto of King Edward VII and Queen Mary School, Lytham
subsiste sermonem statim||stop speaking immediately||
Sudetia non cantat||One doesn't sing on the Sudeten Mountains||Saying from Haná region
sui generis	Of its own kind	In a class of its own.
sui iuris	Of one's own right	Capable of responsibility. Has both legal and ecclesiastical use. Commonly rendered sui juris.
sum quod eris||I am what you will be||A gravestone inscription to remind the reader of the inevitability of death (cf. memento mori). Also rendered fui quod sis ("I have been what you are") and tu fui ego eris ("I have been you, you will be I").
sum quod sum||I am what I am||from Augustine's Sermon No. 76; also a 2-part episode in the webcomic Heroes.
summa cum laude||with highest praise||
summa summarum||all in all||Literally "sum of sums". When a short conclusion is rounded up at the end of some elaboration.
summum bonum	the supreme good	Literally "highest good". Also summum malum ("the supreme evil").
summum ius, summa iniuria||supreme justice, supreme injustice||From Cicero (De officiis, I, 10, 33). An acritical application of law, without understanding and respect of laws's purposes and without considering the overall circumstances, is often a means of supreme injustice. A similar sentence appears in Terence (Heautontimorumenos, IV, 5): Ius summum saepe summa est malitia ("supreme justice is often out of supreme malice (or wickedness)").
sunt lacrimae rerum	there are tears for things	From Virgil, Aeneid. Followed by et mentem mortalia tangunt ("and mortal things touch my mind"). Aeneas cries as he sees Carthaginian temple murals depicting the deaths of the Trojan War. See also hinc illae lacrimae.
sunt omnes unum||they are all one||
sunt pueri pueri, pueri puerilia tractant||Children are children, and children do childish things||anonymous proverb
suo jure	in one's own right	Used in the context of titles of nobility, for instance where a wife may hold a title in her own right rather than through her marriage.
suo motu||upon one's own initiative||Also rendered suo moto. Usually used when a court of law, upon its own initiative, (i.e., no petition has been filed) proceeds against a person or authority that it deems has committed an illegal act. It is used chiefly in South Asia.
suos cultores scientia coronat||Knowledge crowns those who seek Her||The motto of Syracuse University, New York.
super fornicam||on the lavatory||Where Thomas More accused the reformer, Martin Luther, of going to celebrate Mass.
superbia in proelia||pride in battle||Motto of Manchester City F.C.
supero omnia||I surpass everything||A declaration that one succeeds above all others.
surdo oppedere||to belch before the deaf||From Erasmus' collection of annotated Adagia (1508): a useless action.
surgam||I shall rise||Motto of Columbia University's Philolexian Society.
sursum corda||Lift up your hearts||
sutor, ne ultra crepidam	Cobbler, no further than the sandal!	Thus, don't offer your opinion on things that are outside your competence. It is said that the Greek painter Apelles once asked the advice of a cobbler on how to render the sandals of a soldier he was painting. When the cobbler started offering advice on other parts of the painting, Apelles rebuked him with this phrase in Greek, and it subsequently became a popular Latin expression.
suum cuique tribuere	to render to every man his due	One of Justinian I's three basic precepts of law. Also shortened to suum cuique ("to each his own").
s.v.|| ||Abbreviation for sub verbo or sub voce (see above).