This table was compiled from multiple sources on the Internet; in other words, it's guaranteed to be inaccurate. Caveat lector!
| Macdonaldus Senex fundum habuit. E-I-E-I-O. Et in hot fundo nonnullas boves domesticas habuitt. E-I-E-O. Cum moo moo hic, et cum moo moo ibi. Hic una moo, ibi una moo, ubique una moo moo. Macdonaldus Senex fundum habuit. E-I-E-I-O | Old MacDonald had a farm. E-I-E-O. And on this farm he had some cows. E-I-E-I-O. With a moo moo here, and a moo moo there. Here a moo, there a moo, everywhere a moo moo. Old MacDonald had a farm. E-I-E-I-O |
| Machina improba! Vel mihi ede potum vel mihi redde nummos meos! | You infernal machine! Give me a beverage or give me my money back! |
| Maecenas atavis edite regibus | Maecenas, born of monarch ancestors. (Horace) |
| Magister artis ingeniique largitor venter | Necessity is the mother of all invention |
| Magister artium (MA) | Master of arts |
| Magister mundi sum! | I am the master of the universe! |
| Magna charta | Great paper |
| Magna cum laude | With great honour or academic distinction |
| Magna est vis consuetudinis | Great is the power of habit |
| Magna Europa est Patria Nostra | Greater Europe is our [common] Fatherland -- Political motto of pan-Europeanists |
| Magnas inter oper inops | A pauper in the midst of wealth. (Horace) |
| Magnificat | It magnifies |
| Magno cum gaudio | With great joy. |
| Magnum bonum | A great good |
| Magnum opus | A great work. The greatest achievement of an artist or writer. |
| Magnus Frater te spectat | Big Brother is watching you |
| Maior risus, acrior ensis: quadragesima octava regula quaesitus | The bigger the smile, the sharper the knife: the 48th rule of acquisition |
| Mala fide | In bad faith -- said of an act done with knowledge of its illegality, or with intention to defraud or mislead someone. |
| Mala pituita nasi | Nasty nasal drippings |
| Male captus, bene detentus | Badly captured, well detained, the legal principle that permits the trial of an improperly seized defendant; in U.S. practice, articulated by the "Ker-Frisbie doctrine" |
| Male parta male dilabuntur | What has been wrongly gained is wrongly lost. (Ill-gotten gains seldom prosper.) (Cicero) |
| Malitia ipsa maximam partem veneni sui bibit | Malice itself drinks the largest part of its own poison |
| Malum consilium quod mutari non potest | It's a bad plan that can't be changed. (Publilius Syrus) |
| Malum discordiae | The evil of discord |
| Malum in se | Wrong in itself -- a crime that is inherently wrong; cf. malum prohibitum. |
| Malum prohibitum | A prohibited wrong. A crime that society decides is wrong for some reason, not inherently evil |
| Malum quidem nullum esse sine aliquo bono | There is, to be sure, no evil without something good. (Pliny the Elder) |
| Manebo | I will remain |
| Manebo | I will remain |
| Mannus | Mustang |
| Manu militari | With (or By) a military hand -- using armed forces in order to achieve a goal. |
| Manu propria (m.p.) | With (one's) own hand |
| Manus in mano | Hand in hand |
| Manus manum lavat | One hand washes the other. The favor for the favor. (Petronius) |
| Mare clausum | Closed seas; as opposed to mare liberum (freedom of the seas) |
| Mare liberum | Freedom of the seas; as opposed to mare clausum (closed seas) |
| Mare nostrum | Our sea. (Mediterranean) |
| Margaritae ante porcae | Pearls before swine. To give something valuable to someone not respecting it |
| Mater | Mother |
| Mater artium necessitas | Necessity is the mother of invention |
| Mater dolorosa | Sorrowful mother. (Virgin Mary) |
| Mater tua caligas gerit | Your mother wears army boots |
| Mater tua criceta fuit, et pater tuo redoluit bacarum sambucus | Your mother was a hamster and your father smelt of elderberries |
| Materfamilias | Mother of family |
| Materia medica | Medical matter |
| Materiam superabat opus | The workmanship was better than the subject matter. (Ovid) |
| Maxima debetur puero reverentia | We owe the greatest respect to a child |
| Maximus in minimis | Great in little things |
| Me dilectissima! Farrago thunni! | My favorite! Tuna-noodle casserole! |
| Me fallit | I do not know |
| Me humi proruas. Mi calces os. Aut infames nomen animos. Fac quidquid habes in animo, Sed, age, mel, nune parce calceis | Well you can knock me down. Step on my face. Slander my name all over the place. Do anything that you wanna do. But uh-uh honey, lay off of my shoes. |
| Me humi proruas. Mi calces os. Aut infames nomen animos. Fac quidquid habes in animo, Sed, age, mel, nune parce calceis | Well you can knock me down. Step on my face. Slander my name all over the place. Do anything that you wanna do. But uh-uh honey, lay off of my shoes. |
| Me ineptum. Interdum modo elabitur. | Silly me. Sometimes it just sort of slips out. |
| Me iudice | I being judge; in my judgement |
| Me oportet propter praeceptum te nocere. | I'm going to have to hurt you on principle. |
| Me transmitte sursum, Caledoni! | Beam me up, Scotty! |
| Me vexat pede | My foot itches (literally, "he / it annoys me at the foot"). Maybe in the sense of "this person makes me want to kick him". |
| Mea (maxima) culpa | It is my (greatest) fault -- used in Christian prayers and confession. |
| Mea culpa | My fault |
| Mea mihi conscientia pluris est quam omnium sermo | My conscience means more to me than all speech. (Cicero) |
| Medice, cura te ipsum! | Physician, heal thyself! (Versio Vulgata) |
| Medici graviores morbos asperis remediis curant | Doctors cure the more serious diseases with harsh remedies. (Curtius Rufus) |
| Medicus curat, natura sanat | The physician treats, nature cures |
| Medio tutissimus ibis | You will go safest in the middle. (Moderation in all things) (Ovid) |
| Mei capilli sunt flagrantes | My hair is on fire |
| Melior dare quam accipere est | It is better to give than to receive |
| Meliora | Better, carrying the connotation of "always better" - motto of University of Rochester |
| Meliora cogito | I strive for the best |
| Melita, domi adsum. | Honey, I'm home. (from the joke phrasebook, Latin for All Occasions; grammatically correct, but the phrase would be anachronistic in ancient Rome) |
| Melitae amor | Love of Malta |
| Melius est praevenire quam praeveniri | Better to forestall than to be forestalled |
| Melius frangi quam flecti | It is better to break than to bend |
| Melius tarde, quam nunquam | Better late than never |
| Mellita, domi adsum. | Honey, I'm home. |
| Memento | Remember! Something that serves to warn or remind. |
| Memento mori | Remember that you must die. A reminder of mortality; esp: death's-head. |
| Memorabilia | Memorable things |
| Memorandum | A note of; a thing to be remembered |
| Memoria in aeterna | In everlasting remembrance |
| Memoriter | From memory |
| Mendacem memorem esse oportet | A liar needs a good memory. (Quintilianus) |
| Mens agitat molem | The mind moves the matter. (Vergil) |
| Mens conscia recti | A mind conscious of right |
| Mens et Manus | Mind and Hand - motto of Massachusetts Institute of Technology |
| Mens rea | Guilty mind. A term used in discussing the mindset of an accused criminal. |
| Mens regnum bona possidet | A noble mind possesses a kingdom. (Seneca) |
| Mens sana in corpore sano | A sound mind in a sound body. (Juvenalis) |
| Mens sibi conscia recti | A mind conscious of its rectitude |
| Meos tam suspicione quam crimine iudico carere oportere | I feel that members of my family should never be suspected of breaking the law |
| Mesne assignment | An "assignment" is a transfer or making over to another of the whole of any property, real or personal, or of any estate or right therein; a "mesne assignment" (from the Old English "mesne" for "intermediate, intervening") is an assignment intervening between an original grant and the last assignment. See: Upright v. Mercury Business Machines |
| Meum cerebrum nocet. | My brain hurts. |
| Meum est propisitum in taberna mori | I wish to end my days in a tavern drinking. |
| Meum pactum dictum | My word is my bond |
| Meus Deus, Meus Domina, Meus Rex | My God, My Lady, My King |
| Mihi cura futuri | My concern is the future |
| Mihi ignosce. Cum homine de cane debeo congredi | Excuse me. I've got to see a man about a dog |
| Minima maxima sunt | The smallest things are most important |
| Minime senuisti! | You haven't aged a bit! |
| Ministerium se preaevenit | Service before self |
| Minus habens | Absent-minded |
| Minutus cantorum, minutus balorum, minutus carborata descendum pantorum. | A little song, a little dance, a little seltzer down your pants. |
| Mirabile dictu | Wonderful to say/relate. (Vergil) |
| Mirabile visu | Wonderful to see. |
| Miserere | Have mercy |
| Miserere nobis | Have mercy upon us - a phrase within the Gloria and the Agnus Dei, to be used at certain points in Christian religious ceremonies. |
| Missa solemnis | Solemn Mass. (high Mass) |
| Missiles invenientes semper potestatem viae habent. | Incoming fire has the right of way. |
| Mittimus | We send (to prison) |
| Modo fac | Just do it |
| Modo liceat vivere, est spes | While there's life, there's hope |
| Modus agendi | Manner of operation |
| Modus morons | Not actually Latin, but a wordplay on the above two, referring to the oft-made logical fallacy that from if P then Q and not P, one would conclude not Q. |
| Modus operandi (M. O.) | Method of operation -- usually used to describe a criminal's methods. |
| Modus ponens | Method of adding -- loosely "method of affirming", a logical rule of inference, saying that from proposition P and if P then Q one can conclude Q. |
| Modus tollens | Method of subtracting -- loosely "method of denying", a logical rule of inference, saying that from propositions not Q and if P then Q one can conclude not P. |
| Modus vivendi | Way of living -- i.e., an accommodation between disagreeing parties to allow life to go on. |
| Monstra mihi pecuniam! | Show me the money! |
| Montis Insignia Calpe | Badge of the Rock of Gibraltar |
| Moratorium | A delay |
| Morituri te salutamus | We who are about to die salute you |
| Morituri te salutant | Those who are about to die salute you |
| Morologus es! | You're talking like a moron! |
| Mors Cum Terrore Novo Venit | Death has come with a new terror |
| Mors ultima linea rerum est | Death is everything's final limit. (Horace) |
| Mors ultima ratio | Death is the final accounting |
| Mortui Grati | The Grateful Dead |
| Mortvi non mordant | Dead men don't bite; Dead men tell no tale |
| Motu proprio | Of one's own initiative |
| Mulier taceat in ecclesia | Let the woman be silent in church. (Paul) |
| Multa ferunt anni venientes commoda secum, Multa recedentes adimiunt | The years as they come bring may agreeable things with them; as they go, they take many away. (Horace, Ars Poetica) |
| Multi eunt, pauci intellegunt | Many go, few understand |
| Multi famam, conscientiam pauci verentur | Many fear their reputation, few their conscience. (Pliny) |
| Multi sunt vocati, pauci vero electi | Many are called [but] few are chosen |
| Multis e gentibus vires | From many peoples, strength |
| Multis post annis | Many years later |
| Multum in parvo | Much in little -- e.g., "Latin phrases are often multum in parvo, because they convey much in few words." |
| Multun, non multa | Much, not many (quality not quantity) |
| Mundus non sistat | The world does not stand still. (Gangalius) |
| Mundus vult decipi, ergo decipiatur | The world wants to be deceived, so let it be deceived! |
| Munit haec et altera vincit | One defends and the other conquers |
| Mus uni non fidit antro | A mouse does not rely on just one hole. (Plautus) |
| Musica delenit bestiam feram | Music soothes the savage beast |
| Mutatis mutandis | When what must be changed has been changed, after making the necessary changes; with alterations to fit the new circumstances. For example: "The new provisions governing the tribunal's operations are to apply as well to the court's operations, mutatis mutandis. |
| Mutato nomine | The name being changed |
