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dramatis personae |
dram. pers. |
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age quod agis |
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"do what you do" or " drive what you are driving" |
Commonly, attend to your business; pay attention to your work, and make sure to do what you are doing well. |
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litterarum humaniorum doctor |
L.H.D. |
(approximately) doctor of the more humane letters |
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lucus a non lucendo |
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[it is] a grove by not being light |
From late 4th-century grammarian Honoratus Maurus, who sought to mock implausible word origins such as those proposed by Priscian. A pun based on the word lucus ("dark grove") having a similar appearance to the verb lucere ("to shine"), arguing that the former word is derived from the latter word because of a lack of light in wooded groves. Often used as an example of absurd etymology. |
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mille passus |
M.P. |
1,000 paces (the Roman mile) |
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filius nullius |
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a bastard |
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locus classicus |
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a classic place |
A quotation from a classical text used as an example of something. |
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ab abusu ad usum non valet consequentia |
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a consequence from an abuse to a use is not valid |
Inferences regarding something's use from its misuse are invalid. Rights abused are still rights. |
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moratorium |
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a delay |
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gutta cavat lapidem non vi sed saepe cadendo |
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a drop hollows a stone not by force, but by often falling |
From Ovid, Epistulae ex Ponto IV, 10, 5. |
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falsa lectio |
f.l. |
a false reading |
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lusus naturae |
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a freak of nature |
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deus ex machina |
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a god from a machine |
From the Greek ?p? µ??a??? Te?? (Apo mechanes Theos). A contrived or artificial solution, usually to a literary plot. Refers to the practice in Greek drama of lowering an actor playing a god or goddess by machine onto the stage to resolve a plot that could not be resolved in any other way. |
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deus absconditus |
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a god who is hidden from man |
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magnum bonum |
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a great good |
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locus desperatus |
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a hopeless passage |
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centum |
C. |
a hundred |
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vita ante acta |
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a life done before |
A previous life, generally due to reincarnation. |
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novus homo |
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a new man |
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scholium |
schol. |
a note |
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