First recorded by John of Salisbury in the twelfth century and attributed to Bernard of Chartres. Also commonly known by the letters of Isaac Newton: "If I have seen further it is by standing on the shoulders of giants".
nascentes morimur finisque ab origine pendet
As we are born we die, and our end hangs from our beginning
Cf. Aristotle: "οὐθὲν γάρ, ὡς φαμέν, μάτην ἡ φύσις ποιεῖ" (Politics I 2, 1253a9) and Leucippus: "Everything that happens does so for a reason and of necessity."
nature does not make a leap, thus neither does the law
Shortened form of sicut natura nil facit per saltum ita nec lex (just as nature does nothing by a leap, so neither does the law), referring to both nature and the legal system moving gradually.
Nature is exceedingly simple and harmonious with itself
Sir Isaac Newton's famous quote, defining foundation of all modern sciences. Can be found in his Unpublished Scientific Papers of Isaac Newton: A selection from the Portsmouth Collection in the University Library, Cambridge, 1978 edition[2]
naturalia non sunt turpia
What is natural is not dirty
Based on Servius' commentary on Virgil's Georgics (3:96): "turpis non est quia per naturam venit."
naturam expellas furca, tamen usque recurret
You may drive out Nature with a pitchfork, yet she still will hurry back
You must take the basic nature of something into account. – Horace, Epistles, Book I, epistle X, line 24.
navigare necesse est, vivere non est necesse
to sail is necessary; to live is not necessary
Attributed by Plutarch to Gnaeus Pompeius Magnus, who, during a severe storm, commanded sailors to bring food from Africa to Rome. Translated from Plutarch's Greek "πλεῖν ἀνάγκη, ζῆν οὐκ ἀνάγκη".
ne plus ultra
nothing more beyond
Also nec plus ultra or non plus ultra. A descriptive phrase meaning the most extreme point, or the best form, of something. Most notably the Pillars of Hercules were in the geographic sense the nec plus ultra of the ancient Mediterranean world, before the discovery of the Americas. Holy Roman EmperorCharles V's heraldic emblem contradicted this postulate, using an amended version of the phrase inscribed on two pillars – as plus ultra ("more (lies) beyond"), without the negation, referring to the on-going Spanish colonization of the recently discovered Americas, which lay beyond the Pillars of Hercules. Non plus ultra is the motto of the Spanish exclave of Melilla, situated on a Mediterranean cape 230 km east of the original southern Pillar of Hercules. The Boston Musical Instrument Company engraved ne plus ultra on its instruments from 1869 to 1928 to signify that none were better.
ne puero gladium
do not give a sword to a boy
Never give dangerous tools to someone who is untrained to use them or too immature to understand the damage they can do.
Nec deus intersit, nisi dignus vindice nodus (inciderit)
That a god not intervene, unless a knot show up that be worthy of such an untangler
"When the miraculous power of God is necessary, let it be resorted to: when it is not necessary, let the ordinary means be used." From Horace's Ars Poetica as a caution against deus ex machina.
The short and more common form of Nemo enim fere saltat sobrius, nisi forte insanit, "Nobody dances sober, unless he happens to be insane," a quote from Cicero (from the speech Pro Murena).
A maxim banning mandatory self-incrimination. Near-synonymous with accusare nemo se debet nisi coram Deo. Similar phrases include: nemo tenetur armare adversarium contra se (no one is bound to arm an opponent against himself), meaning that a defendant is not obligated to in any way assist the prosecutor to his own detriment; nemo tenetur edere instrumenta contra se (no one is bound to produce documents against himself, meaning that a defendant is not obligated to provide materials to be used against himself (this is true in Roman law and has survived in modern criminal law, but no longer applies in modern civil law); and nemo tenere prodere se ipsum (no one is bound to betray himself), meaning that a defendant is not obligated to testify against himself.
Or just "nothing new". The phrase exists in two versions: as nihil novi sub sole (nothing new under the sun), from the Vulgate, and as nihil novi nisi commune consensu (nothing new unless by the common consensus), a 1505 law of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth and one of the cornerstones of its Golden Liberty.
A notation, usually on a title page, indicating that a Roman Catholiccensor has reviewed the book and found nothing objectionable to faith or morals in its content. See also imprimatur.
Or "nothing without providence". State motto of Colorado, adopted in 1861. Probably derived from Virgil's Aeneid, book 2, line 777, non haec sine numine divum eveniunt (these things do not come to pass without the will of Heaven). See also numen.
A decree nisi is a court order (often for divorce) that will come into force on a certain date "unless" cause is shown why it should not.
nisi Dominus frustra
if not the Lord, [it is] in vain
That is, "everything is in vain without God". Summarized from Psalm 127 (126 Vulgate), nisi Dominus aedificaverit domum in vanum laboraverunt qui aedificant eam nisi Dominus custodierit civitatem frustra vigilavit qui custodit (unless the Lord builds the house, they work on a useless thing who build it; unless the Lord guards the community, he keeps watch in vain who guards it); widely used motto.
nisi paria non pugnant
it takes two to make a fight
Irascetur aliquis: tu contra beneficiis prouoca; cadit statim simultas ab altera parte deserta; nisi paria non pugnant. (If any one is angry with you, meet his anger by returning benefits for it: a quarrel which is only taken up on one side falls to the ground: it takes two men to fight.) Seneca the Younger, De Ira (On Anger): Book 2, cap. 34, line 5.
nisi prius
unless previously
In England, a direction that a case be brought up to Westminster for trial before a single judge and jury. In the United States, a court where civil actions are tried by a single judge sitting with a jury, as distinguished from an appellate court.
nitimur in vetitum
We strive for the forbidden
From Ovid's Amores, III.4:17. It means that when we are denied of something, we will eagerly pursue the denied thing. Used by Friedrich Nietzsche in his Ecce Homo to indicate that his philosophy pursues what is forbidden to other philosophers.
That is, "whether unwillingly or willingly". Sometimes rendered volens nolens, aut nolens aut volens or nolentis volentis. Similar to willy-nilly, though that word is derived from Old Englishwill-he nil-he ([whether] he will or [whether] he will not).
That is, "Don't upset my calculations!" Said by Archimedes to a Roman soldier who, despite having been given orders not to, killed Archimedes at the conquest of Syracuse, Sicily.
That is, "no contest". A plea that can be entered on behalf of a defendant in a court that states that the accused doesn't admit guilt, but will accept punishment for a crime. Nolo contendere pleas cannot be used as evidence in another trial.
nomen amicitiae sic, quatenus expedit, haeret
the name of friendship lasts just so long as it is profitable
A purported scientific name that does not fulfill the proper formal criteria and therefore cannot be used unless it is subsequently proposed correctly.
non Angli sed angeli, si forent Christiani
They are not Angles, but angels, if they were Christian
A pun, ascribed (in a different wording) by Bede to Pope Gregory I, said to have been uttered by the latter on seeing pale-skinned Angle children at a slave market.
non auro, sed ferro, recuperanda est patria
Not with gold, but with iron must the fatherland be reclaimed
According to some Roman this sentence was said by Marcus Furius Camillus to Brennus, the chief of the Gauls, after he demanded more gold from the citizens of the recently sacked Rome in 390 BC.
See compos mentis. Also rendered non compos sui (not in control of himself). Samuel Johnson theorized that the word nincompoop may derive from this phrase.
non constat
it is not certain
Used to explain scientific phenomena and religious advocations, for example in medieval history, for rulers to issue a 'Non Constat' decree, banning the worship of a holy figure. In legal context, occasionally a backing for nulling information that was presented by an attorney. Without any tangible proof, Non constat information is difficult to argue for.
a doctrine in contract law that allows a signing party to escape performance of the agreement. A claim of "non est factum" means that the signature on the contract was signed by mistake, without knowledge of its meaning, but was not done so negligently. A successful plea would make the contract void ab initio.
non est princeps super leges, sed leges supra principem
the prince is not above the laws, but the law is above the prince.
you should not make evil in order that good may be made from it
More simply, "don't do wrong to do right". The direct opposite of the phrase "the ends justify the means".
non hos quaesitum munus in usus
A gift sought for no such purpose
Virgil, Aeneid, 4:647, of the sword with which Dido will commit suicide. "Not for so dire an enterprise design’d." (Dryden trans.; 1697)[7] "A gift asked for no use like this." (Mackail trans.; 1885).[8] "Ne'er given for an end so dire." (Taylor trans.; 1907)[9] "A gift not asked for use like this!" (Williams trans.; 1910).[10] Quoted by Francis Bacon of the civil law, "not made for the countries it governeth".
A judgment notwithstanding verdict, a legal motion asking the court to reverse the jury's verdict on the grounds that the jury could not have reached such a verdict reasonably.
Used in the sense "what matters is not who says it but what he says" – a warning against ad hominem arguments; frequently used as motto, including that of Southwestern University.
In general, a comment which is absurd due to not making sense in its context (rather than due to being inherently nonsensical or internally inconsistent), often used in humor. As a logical fallacy, a conclusion that does not follow from a premise.
Possibly derived from a Vulgate mistranslation of the Book of Jeremiah. Commonly used in literature as Satan's statement of disobedience to God, though in the original context the quote is attributed to Israel, not Satan.
non sibi
Not for self
A slogan used by many schools and universities.
non sibi, sed patriae
Not for self, but for country
Engraved on the doors of the United States Naval Academy chapel; motto of the USS Halyburton (FFG-40).
From Cicero, based on the Greek γνῶθι σεαυτόν (gnothi seauton), inscribed on the pronaos of the Temple of Apollo at Delphi, according to the Greek periegetic writer Pausanias (10.24.1). A non-traditional Latin rendering, temet nosce (thine own self know), is translated in The Matrix as "know thyself".
That is, "nothing". It has been theorized that this expression is the origin of Italiannulla, Frenchrien, and Spanish and Portuguesenada, all with the same meaning.
Carpe-Diem-type phrase from the Odes of Horace, Nunc est bibendum, nunc pede libero pulsanda tellus (Now is the time to drink, now the time to dance footloose upon the earth). Used as a slogan by Michelin and the origin of the Michelin Man's name Bibendum.
^Hall, A. Rupert (1962). Unpublished Scientific Papers of Isaac Newton: A selection from the Portsmouth Collection in the University Library, Cambridge. ISBN0521294363.
