Latin Proverbs, Mottoes, Phrases, and Words: Group L

(classical-language maxims, slogans, adages, proverbs, and words of wisdom that can still capture our modern imagination)

Expressions of general truths: Latin to English maxims, proverbs, and mottoes

Word entries are from Latin unless otherwise indicated.

Labor et scientia.
Labor and knowledge.

Motto of Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology, Terre Haute, Indiana, USA.

Labor omnia vincit.
Perseverance [Work] overcomes all difficulties.

Motto of Centenary College of Louisiana, Shreveport, Louisiana, USA; and the State of Oklahoma, USA.

The phrase/motto is a shortened form of Virgil's statement in his Georgics: Labor omnia vicit improbus, "Never-ending work conquered all things."

It is said that Virgil was describing the harshness of life following the Golden Age, when the earth had yielded its fruits without labor. Jupiter then decided to change everything, making life hard so mankind would learn and become independent.

Laborare et studere.
Work and study.

Motto of Lincoln University, Jefferson City, Missouri, USA.

lapsus calami
1. A slip of the pen or an error in writing from Latin calamarius, "pertaining to a pen", from calamus, "reed, pen", from Greek kalamos.
2. A slip of the pen, an unintentional writing error; especially, in spelling taxonomic names.
lapsus linguae
Slip of the tongue; from Latin lapsus, a slip; an error; chiefly used in Latin phrases. English pronunciation: LAP suhs LING gwee.
A man makes a bad slip of the tongue or lapsus linguae
Larry, this is Fattie; I mean, Hattie!

This shows that a lapsus linguae can be embarrassing, to say the least. The situation could also be considered a lapsus memoriae or a "lapse of memory".

Word Info image © ALL rights reserved.

There is one more mental lapse, one that involves carelessness in writing: lapsus calami or a slip of the pen. The word calamus was a reed formerly used as a pen.

A lapsus linguae can result from laliophobia or lalophobia

In the world of human relations, a person can suffer from laliophobia (lalophobia); that is, a terror of talking or of stuttering when trying to talk.

An individual's speech difficulty may be aggravated by situations that arise from anxieties or fears of self-consciousness.

Of course, there is also the other condition called, lalomania, a compulsion or abnormal desire to talk excessively. Neither situation is considered desirable in human relations.


See this special presentation about public personalities who have committed various forms of lapsus linguae.

lapsus memoriae (s) (noun) (no plural)
A defect of the memory, sometimes considered to be a symptom of a mental illness: A lapsus memoriae is an involuntary mistake that is made while writing or speaking.

    In literature, a number of different types of lapsus memoriae are named depending on the mode of correspondence:

  1. lapsus linguae: a slip of the tongue.
  2. lapsus calami: a slip of the pen.
  3. With the variation of lapsus clavis: slip of the typewriter.

  4. lapsus manus: slip of the hand, similar to lapsus calami.
Laus Deo
Praise be to God!
Legitime certantibus.
Struggle for a just cause.

Motto of German Emperor Ferdinand II (1612-1619).

Legum Baccalaureus; LL.B.
Bachelor of Laws degree.
Legum Doctor; LL.D.
Doctor of Laws degree.
Levator labii superioris et nasi. (Latin term)
Translation: "Lifter of the upper lip and the nose."

A medical term for the muscle in the upper lip.

Lex.
Law.

Motto of San Francisco Law School, San Francisco, California, USA.

Lex ancilla justitiae.
Law, the servant of justice.

Motto of The John Marshall Law School, Chicago, Illinois, USA.

Lex dubia non obligat. (a Latin legal term)
Translation: "A doubtful law does not oblige one to follow it."
lex loci
The law of the place.

The Latin equivalent of "the law of the land".


Pointing to a page about a kleptomaniac Units of mottoes and proverbs listed by groups: A to X.