A Latin tag is a Latin phrase or expression conventionally used in the English language, either in ordinary speech and writing or as terminology associated with specific fields such as law, medicine, logic, administration, religion, and scholarship. Some occur as complete phrases, sayings or maxims, while others primarily appear in an abbreviated form.
Many Latin tags have become substantially incorporated into the English language, with examples in widespread use including ad hoc, ad infinitum, ad nauseam, bona fide, de facto and de jure, per capita, per se, prima facie, quid pro quo, sine qua non, status quo, and vice versa, while many others remain principally associated with particular professions, scholarly writing, formal discourse, mottos, or the like.
Latin tags have historically been associated with education and learned discourse. The Concise Oxford Companion to the English Language reports that they were widely used up to about the mid-20th century, sometimes deliberately as a signal of the user's education. As this practice declined, less familiar tags became less common and less widely understood, and their use has come to be regarded as affected or unnecessary.
Examples of expressions that have become firmly established in particular fields include habeas corpus, and sub judice in law; locum tenens, placebo, and post mortem in medicine; argumentum ad hominem, non sequitur, and reductio ad absurdum in logic; and ad hoc, quorum, and sine die in administration. Latin also survives in numerous conventional scholarly abbreviations, particularly those used with respect to citation, such as ibid. (an abbreviation for the Latin word ibīdem, meaning ), op. cit. (an abbreviation of the Latin phrase or , (meaning 'the work cited' or 'in the cited work', respectively), passim, cf. (for Latin or , both meaning 'compare'), e.g. (exempli gratia), and i.e. (id est).
Survival in modern usage The continued use of Latin tags is part of a broader survival of Latin in modern European languages after Latin ceased to be the principal international language of education and scholarship. Latin had served for centuries as a common language of learning and was particularly important in scientific and medical communication. In early modern Europe it was used internationally in fields including natural philosophy, mathematics, medicine, chemistry, and natural history, before increasingly giving way to vernacular languages during the 18th and 19th centuries.
Even as continuous discourse in Latin declined, individual Latin expressions remained embedded in other languages. Fixed expressions such as dramatis personae, habeas corpus, and casus belli continued to be used in their Latin form, while other expressions became established within particular professions or entered more general vocabulary. This retention of fixed expressions alongside specialized terminology accounts for much of the continuing presence of Latin in modern English.
Styling Style guides disagree on whether Latin phrases like ad hoc should be italicized. The trend is not to use italics.Yateendra Joshi, " Latin phrases in scientific writing: italics or not", editage Insights, 14 January 2014 For example, The Chicago Manual of Style recommends that familiar Latin phrases that are listed in the Webster's Dictionary, including "ad hoc", not be italicized.
The distinction generally turns on the degree to which an expression has become naturalized in English. Legal scholar and lexicographer Bryan A. Garner recommends roman type for Latin terms sufficiently established to be regarded as anglicized, while retaining italics for expressions still treated as foreignisms. The Chicago Manual of Style likewise states that familiar Latin terms are generally set in roman type. In legal writing, the Maroonbook similarly treats commonly used Latin words and phrases as part of common English usage and ordinarily does not italicize them, while retaining italics for obsolete or uncommon expressions.
Usage in connection with specific fields Scientific and medical Latin Latin maintains a particularly persistent role in scientific and medical terminology, having been widely used for scientific and medical writing in early modern Europe. This influence continued after vernacular languages largely displaced it as the language of scientific communication, with Latin remaining important in areas including binomial nomenclature in biology, anatomical nomenclature, and pharmaceutical terminology.
These continuing technical uses are not necessarily themselves Latin tags: the scientific name of an organism, for example, functions as nomenclature rather than as a fixed Latin expression inserted into English discourse. The same scientific and medical traditions, however, have preserved numerous Latin expressions that do function as English tags. The Concise Oxford Companion to the English Language gives locum tenens, placebo, and post mortem as examples firmly established in medical usage. Latin phrases and abbreviations also remain in medical prescriptions, including such forms as p.r.n. (, "as needed") and p.o. (, "by mouth").
Law Latin
Latin tags have also had an especially persistent role in legal usage, with Law Latin being used as a term for Latin legal vocabulary as well as for a distinctive form of Latin historically employed in English legal records and instruments. Law Latin, sometimes written L.L. or L. Lat., and sometimes derisively referred to as Dog Latin, is a form of Latin used in legal contexts. Some of the vocabulary stems from English, and Law Latin may also be seen as consisting of a mixture of English, French and Latin words superimposed over an English syntax.
Law Latin was the language in which the records of English lawsuits and other causes at law (as distinguished from those at equity and in other prerogative tribunals) were recorded at least until the reign of George II. Under his reign, the Proceedings in Courts of Justice Act 1730 (effective from 1733) mandated that all records of legal proceedings in England were to be made in English rather than Latin. Law Latin was also used as the language of writs, royal charters, letters patent and many other legal instruments. As late as 1867, Law Latin was still in use in England and Scotland for some legal instruments. In South Africa, knowledge of Latin was a requirement in order to join the General Council of the Bar in order to advocate in the courts until 1988 when it was abolished.
Common expressions Ad hoc
Ad hoc, meaning literally "for this", is typically used in English to signify a solution designed for a specific purpose, problem, or task rather than a generalized solution adaptable to collateral instances (compare with a priori). Common examples include ad hoc committees and commissions created at the national or international level for a specific task, and the term is often used to describe arbitration (ad hoc arbitration). In other fields, the term could refer to a military unit created under special circumstances (see task force), a handcrafted network protocol (e.g., ad hoc network), a temporary collaboration among geographically linked franchise locations (of a given national brand) to issue advertising coupons, or a purpose-specific equation in mathematics or science.
Ad hoc can also function as an adjective describing temporary, provisional, or improvised methods to deal with a particular problem, the tendency of which has given rise to the noun adhocism.American Heritage Dictionary of Idioms, 2nd Edition This concept highlights the flexibility and adaptability often required in problem-solving across various domains. In everyday language, "ad hoc" is sometimes used informally to describe improvised or makeshift solutions, emphasizing their temporary nature and specific applicability to immediate circumstances.
In science and philosophy, ad hoc means the addition of extraneous hypotheses to a theory to save it from being falsified. An ad hoc hypothesis compensates for anomalies not anticipated by the theory in its unmodified form. Scientists are often skeptical of scientific theories that rely on frequent, unsupported adjustments to sustain them. Ad hoc hypotheses are often characteristic of pseudo-scientific subjects such as homeopathy. A wireless ad hoc network typically refers to a system of network elements that combine to form a network requiring little or no planning.
In national and sub-national governance, ad hoc bodies may be established to deal with specific problems not easily accommodated by the current structure of governance or to address multi-faceted issues spanning several areas of governance. In the UK and other commonwealth countries, ad hoc Royal Commissions may be set up to address specific questions as directed by parliament. In the military, ad hoc units are created during unpredictable situations, when the cooperation between different units is suddenly needed for fast action, or from remnants of previous units which have been overrun or otherwise whittled down. In diplomacy, diplomats may be appointed by a government as special envoys, or diplomats who serve on an ad hoc basis due to the possibility that such envoys' offices may either not be retained by a future government or may only exist during the duration of a relevant cause.
Ad infinitum
Ad infinitum, meaning "to infinity" or "forevermore", is usually used to mean "continue forever, without limit", which can be used to describe a non-terminating process, a non-terminating repeating process, or a set of instructions to be repeated "forever," among other uses. It may also be used in a manner similar to the Latin phrase et cetera to denote written words or a concept that continues for a lengthy period beyond what is shown. Examples include: "The sequence 1, 2, 3, ... continues ad infinitum." "The perimeter of a fractal may be iteratively drawn ad infinitum." The 17th-century writer Jonathan Swift incorporated the idea of self-similarity in the following lines from his satirical poem On Poetry: a Rhapsody (1733): The vermin only teaze and pinch Their foes superior by an inch. So, naturalists observe, a flea Has smaller fleas that on him prey; And these have smaller still to bite 'em, And so proceed ad infinitum. Thus every poet, in his kind, Is bit by him that comes behindThe mathematician Augustus De Morgan included similar lines in his rhyme Siphonaptera.
Ad nauseam is used to describe an argument or a discussion that has been extended to the figurative point of nausea."ad nauseam" definition Dictionary.com For example, "this has been discussed " indicates that the topic has been discussed extensively and those involved have grown sick of it. The fallacy of dragging the conversation to an ad nauseam state in order to then assert one's position as correct due to it not having been contradicted is also called (to infinity) and "argument from repetition". The term is defined by the American Heritage Dictionary as "to a disgusting or ridiculous degree; to the point of nausea". Colloquially, it is sometimes used as "until nobody cares to discuss it any more".
The phrase originates as a Latin expression, translating to "to nausea", combining the preposition ad ("to") with nauseam the accusative case of nausea ("nausea" or "seasickness"). This term nausea traces back to Ancient Greek nausía, denoting "seasickness" and stemming from naûs ("ship"). In English, the phrase appeared during the mid 16th century. The earliest documented instance occurs in a 1565 translation by John Hall, where it describes continuation to the point of inducing disgust. By 1644, usage had become more established, often meaning excessive repetition that leads to weariness. During the 17th century, the expression got higher usage in English literature and discourse, particularly for critiquing repetitive debates or ideas.