This table was compiled from multiple sources on the Internet; in other words, it's guaranteed to be inaccurate. Caveat lector!
| Pace | With peace -- used to indicate that the speaker contradicts someone else: "...but acquired characteristics are not inherited, pace Jean-Baptiste Lamarck..." |
| Pace tua | With your consent |
| Pacta sunt servanda | The doctrine that agreements must be observed (that is: honored, obeyed). Contrast to rebus sic stantibus. |
| Pactum factum | A done deal |
| Pactum serva | Keep the faith |
| Pallida mors | Pale Death. (Horace) |
| Palmam qui meruit ferat | Let him who has earned it bear the reward |
| Panem et circenses | Bread and circus plays -- Juvenal, Satires 10, 81, describing all that was needed for the emperors to placate the Roman mob, and today used to describe any public entertainment used to distract public attention from more important matters. |
| Par pare refero | I return like for like tit for tat retaliation |
| Parens patriae | Parent of the country. |
| Pares cum paribus facillime congregantur | Birds of a feather flock together |
| Pares cvm paribvs | Like persons with like persons. Birds of a feather flock together |
| Pari passu | With equal step -- moving together, simultaneously, etc.. |
| Pars maior lacrimas ridet et intus habet | You smile at your tears but have them in your heart. (Martialis) |
| Particeps criminis | Partner in crime |
| Parturient montes, nascetur ridiculus mus | Mountains will be in labour, and an absurd mouse will be born. (all that work and nothing to show for it) |
| Parva leves capiunt animas | Small things occupy light minds (small things amuse small minds) |
| Parva scintilla saepe magnam flamam excitat | The small sparkle often initiates a large flame |
| Parva sub ingenti | The small under the protection of the great |
| Parve leves capiunt animos | Small things effect light minds |
| Parvis e glandibus quercus | Tall oaks from little acorns grow |
| Passavant li meillor | Let the best pass first |
| Passim | Throughout, "here and there", "frequently" -- of a word that occurs several times in a cited texts; also, in proof reading, of a change that is to be repeated everywhere needed. |
| Pater familias | Father of the family |
| Pater historiae | The father of history |
| Pater Noster | Our Father (The first words of the Lord's Prayer in Latin) |
| Pater patriae | Father of the country |
| Pater peccavi | Father, I have sinned -- the traditional beginning of a Catholic confession. |
| Patria est communis omnium parens | Our native land is the common parent of us all. (Cicero) |
| Patris est filius | He is his father's son |
| Pauca sed matura | Few, but ripe. From The King and I by Rogers and Hammerstein. It was said to be one of Carl Gauss's favorite quotations. |
| Paucis verbis | In a few words |
| Paucis verbis, quid est deconstructionismus? | What, in a nutshell, is deconstructionism? |
| Pavesco, pavesco | I'm shaking, I'm shaking |
| Pavpertas omnivm artivm repertrix | Poverty [is the] inventor of all the arts necessity is the mother of invention |
| Pax Americana | The Peace of America -- a euphemism for the United States of America and its sphere of influence, adapted from Pax Romana (q.v.) |
| Pax Britannica | The Peace of Britain -- a euphemism for the British Empire, adapted from Pax Romana (q.v.) |
| Pax Dei | Peace of God, Peace and Truce of God movement, 10th Century, France. |
| Pax Deorum | Peace of the Gods -- Like the vast majority of inhabitants of the ancient world, the Romans practiced pagan rituals, believing it important to achieve a state of Pax Deorum (The Peace of the Gods) instead of Ira Deorum (The Wrath of the Gods). Earthquakes, floods, famine, etc. |
| Pax et bonum | Peace and goodness. The motto of St. Francis of Assisi and, consequently, the motto of his monastery in Assisi, in the Tuscany region of Italy. Italian translation: pace e bene. |
| Pax Romana | The Peace of Rome -- the peace forcefully imposed by the Roman Empire. |
| Pax Sinica | The Peace of China -- a euphemism for periods of peace in East Asia during times of a strong Chinese empire, adapted from Pax Romana (q.v.) |
| Pax tecum | Peace be with you (singular). |
| Pax vobiscum | Peace be with you (plural). |
| Peccatum tacituritatis | Sin of silence |
| Peccavi | I have sinned |
| Peculium | Property |
| Pecunia in arbotis non crescit | Money does not grow on trees |
| Pecunia non olet | Money has no smell. Money doesn't stink. (don't look a gift horse in the mouth) (Vespasianus) |
| Pecvniate obedivnt omnia | All things obey money. Money makes the world go round |
| Pede poena claudo | Punishment comes limping. Retribution comes slowly, but surely. (Horace) |
| Pendent opera interrupta | The work hangs interrupted -- from the Aeneid of Virgil, Book IV |
| Pendente lite | While a suit is pending |
| Penetalia mentis | The innermost recesses of the mind. Heart of hearts |
| Per accidens | By Accident |
| Per angusta in augusta | Through difficulties to great things |
| Per annum | Yearly |
| Per ardua ad alta | Through difficulties to the heights |
| Per ardua ad astra | Through adversity to the stars. -- Motto of the British Royal Air Force |
| Per aspera ad astra | The hard way towards the stars, or "through hardship to the stars" (a state motto of Kansas) |
| Per capita | By heads. Equally to each individual; per unit of population: by or for each person per capita of any state in the union. |
| Per capsulam | By letter. |
| Per centum (percent) | Per hundred |
| Per contra | On the contrary |
| Per curiam | By the court. |
| Per definitionem | By definition. |
| Per diem | By the day. For each day; adj. based on use or service by the day: daily; paid by the day; n. pl per diems a daily allowance; a daily fee. |
| Per Diem | By the Day |
| Per fas et nefas | Through right or wrong |
| Per impossibile | As is impossible a way to qualify a proposition that cannot ever be true |
| Per mare per terras | By lands and by sea |
| Per mensem | Monthly |
| Per os (p.o.) | By mouth (medical shorthand) |
| Per procurationem (p.p.) | Through the agency (of) -- used to indicate that a person is signing a document on behalf of another person (correctly placed before the name of the person signing, but often placed before the name of the person on whose behalf the document is signed, sometimes through incorrect translation of the alternative abbreviation "per pro." as "for and on behalf of"). |
| Per se | By itself or "in itself" -- i.e., without referring to anything else, intrinsically, taken without qualifications, etc.; for instance, negligence per se. |
| Per stirpes | Per branch -- used in wills to indicate that each branch of the testator's family should inherit equally; contrast per capita. |
| Per varios usus artem experientia fecit | Through different exercises practice has brought skill. (Manilius) |
| Per veritatem vis | Through truth, strength (Motto of Washington University in St. Louis) |
| Pereant qui ante nos nostra dixerunt. | Perish those who have said what we say before us. (Aelius Donatus [Comments on Ecclesiastes]) |
| Perfer et obdura; dolor hic tibi proderit olim | Be patient and tough; some day this pain will be useful to you. (Ovid) |
| Periculum in mora | There is danger in delay. (Livy) |
| Peritissimos semper praevidere possumus, rudi autem periculosi sunt. | Professionals are predictable, it is the amateurs who are dangerous. |
| Permissum videtur omne quod non prohibitum | All is permitted that is not prohibited -- a legal principle. |
| Perpetuo vincit qui utitur clementia | He is forever victor who employs clemency. (Syrus) |
| Perpetuum mobile | Thing in perpetual motion. |
| Perscriptio in manibus tabellariorum est | The check is in the mail |
| Persona grata | A pleasing person. personally acceptable or welcome. |
| Persona non grata | A not-pleasing person. personally unacceptable or unwelcome. |
| Pessimus inimicorum genus, laudantes | The worst kind of enemies, those who can praise. (Tacitus) |
| Petitio principii | Begging the principle -- i.e., "begging the question"; a logical fallacy. |
| Philosophum non facit barba! | The beard does not define a philosopher. (Plutarch) |
| Phy! Fabulae! | Bah! Humbug! |
| Pia desideria | Pious desires. |
| Pia fraus | Pious betrayal -- expression from Ovid used to describe betrayal which serves Church purposes. |
| Pictor ignotus | Painter unknown |
| Pinxit | He/she painted it |
| Pistrix! Pistrix! | Shark! Shark! |
| Place a la banniere | Let pass the banner |
| Placebo | I will please. Medical expression for remedies with no medical effect, which improve one's medical condition only because one believes they do |
| Placet | It pleases |
| Placivitne tibi? | Was it good for you? |
| Pleno iure | With full authority |
| Pluralitas non est ponenda sine neccesitate | Entities should not be multiplied unnecessarily |
| Plusque minusque | More or less |
| Plvres crapvla qvam gladivs | Drunkeness [kills] more than the sword. As true today on the road as it ever was |
| Poeta fit, non nascitur | A poet is made, he is not born |
| Poeta nascitur, non fit | The poet is born, not made |
| Poli, poli, di umbuendo | Slowly, Slowly we will get there |
| Pone ubi sol non lucet! | Put it where the sun don't shine! |
| Pons asinorum | Bridge of asses. Any obstacle that stupid people find hard to cross, originally used of Euclid's Fifth Proposition in geometry. |
| Pontifex Maximus | The greatest high priest -- a traditional epithet of the pope and previously of the Roman emperors. The pontifices were the most important priestly college of the ancient Roman religion; their name is usually thought to derive from pons facere, 'to make a bridge', which in turn is usually linked to their religious authority over the bridges of Rome, especially the Pons Sublicius. |
| Posse comitatus | Power of the county. |
| Possum te dicere sed deinde compulero te interficere | I could tell you, but then I’d have to kill you |
| Possunt, quia posse videntur. | They are able, because they appear to be able. (Publius Vergilius Maro [The Aeneid]) |
| Post aut propter | After it or because of it -- causality between to phenomena is not established; cf. Post hoc, ergo propter hoc |
| Post bellum | After the war |
| Post cibum (p.c.) | After meals (medical shorthand) |
| Post coitem | After sexual intercourse |
| Post facto | After the fact. (see ex post facto) |
| Post factum | After the fact |
| Post festum pestum | After the holidays the plague -- The end of the holidays is a bummer!) |
| Post hoc, ergo propter hoc | After this, therefore because of this -- a logical fallacy in which sequence and cause are confused. |
| Post meridiem (p.m.) | After midday -- in the period from noon to midnight. |
| Post mortem | After death. Occuring or done after death; pertaining to a post-mortem examination; n. a post-mortem examination, esp. an autopsy. |
| Post partum | After birth. Of or occuring in the period shortly after childbirth. |
| Post proelia praemia | After the battles come the rewards |
| Post scriptum (p.s.) | Post script used to mark additions to a letter, after the signature. |
| Post tenebras lux | After darkness, light - a motto of the Protestant Reformation inscribed on the Reformation Wall in Geneva, Switzerland. |
| Postatem obscuri lateris nescitis. | You do not know the power of the dark side. |
| Potes currere sed te occulere non potes | You can run, but you can't hide |
| Potest ex casa magnus vir exire | A great man can come from a hut. (Seneca) |
| Potestatem obscuri lateris nescis | You don't know the power of the dark side. (Star Wars) |
| Potior est, qui prior est | First come, first served |
| Potior est, qui prior est | First come, first served |
| Potior est, qui prior est | First come, first served |
| Potius Mori Quam Foedar | Death Before Dishonor (Massachusetts Maritime Academy Honor Guard Motto) |
| Potius sero quam numquam | Better late than never. (Livy) |
| Praeco | Herald |
| Praeco | Herald |
| Praeconis | To be a herald |
| Praeconor | To herald. To proclaim. |
| Praemonitus pramunitus | Forewarned, forearmed |
| Praetio prudentia praestat | Prudence supplies a reward |
| Praetor peregrinus | The Roman magistrate who devised the rules of the jus gentium |
| Prehende uxorem meam, sis! | Take my wife, please! |
| Prescriptio in manibus tabellariorium est | The check is in the mail |
| Pretium iustum est | The Price is Right |
| Prima facie | At first appearance. B1780: on the first appearance; adj. true, valid, or sufficient at first impression: apparent ; self-evident; legally sufficient to establish a fact or a case unless disproved . |
| Primum mobile | Prime mover |
| Primum non nocere | First, do no harm. -- A medical precept, attributed to Hippocrates. |
| Primum viveri deinde philosophari | Live before you philosophize, or Leap before you look |
| Primus detrimentum non affere | First do no harm |
| Primus in orbe Deus fecit timor. | It was fear that introduced gods into the world. (Publius Papinus Status [Thebais]) |
| Primus inter pares | First among equals -- a title of the Roman emperors. |
| Principiis obsta | Resist the beginnings |
| Pro bono (publico) | For the (public) good -- said of a lawyer's work that is not charged for. |
| Pro di immortales! | Good Heavens! |
| Pro et contra | For and against |
| Pro forma | For form. made or carried out in a perfunctory manner or as a formality; provided in advance to prescribe form or describe items |
| Pro hac vice | Ror this occasion. Request of a state court to allow an out-of-state lawyer to represent a client. (see List of legal terms) |
| Pro jure et populo | For the law and the people |
| Pro memoria | For a memorial |
| Pro nunc | For now |
| Pro opportunitate | As circumstances allow |
| Pro patria | For one's country |
| Pro rata | For the rate -- i.e., proportionately. |
| Pro re nata (prn) | As needed (medical shorthand) |
| Pro se | On one's own behalf |
| Pro studio et labore | For hard work and labor. |
| Pro tanto | For so much. Partially fulfilled, a philosophical term meaning: the acceptance of a theory or idea without fully accepting the explanation |
| Pro tempore (pro tem.) | For the time (being) -- i.e., "temporary." |
| Pro Tempore | For the Time Being |
| Probae esti in segetem sunt deteriorem datae fruges, tamen ipsae suaptae enitent | A good seed, planted even in poor soil, will bear rich fruit by its own nature. (Accius) |
| Probatum est | It has been proved |
| Probitas laudatur et alget | Honesty is praised and left in the cold. (Juvenal) |
| Profanum vulgus | The uninitiated masses -- from Horace. |
| Promotor fidei | Promoter of the faith |
| Promoveatur ut amoveatur | Let him be promoted to get him out of the way |
| Propino fibi salutem! | Cheers! |
| Propria manu (p.m.) | By own hand. |
| Proprium humani ingenii est odisse quem laeseris | It is human nature to hate a person whom you have injured |
| Propter Fabulas Narrant | Because of the stories they tell |
| Prospice tibi--ut Gallia, tu quoque in tres partes dividareis. | Watch out--you might end up divided into three parts, like Gaul. |
| Prostibuli eligantia. | The elegance of a whore. |
| Proxime accessit | He/she came close |
| Proximo (prox.) | Formerly used in formal correspondence to refer to the following month. See also ult. and inst. |
| Proximus sum egomet mihi | I am closest to myself. (Charity begins at home.) (Terence) |
| Proxumus sum egomet mihi | Charity begins at home |
| Pueri pueri, pueri puerilia tractant | Children are children, (therefore) children do childish things |
| Pulvis et umbra sumus | We are dust and shadow. (Horace) |
| Punctum saliens | The outstanding point -- i.e., the essential or most notable point. |
| Purgamentum init, exit purgamentum. | Garbage in, garbage out. |
| Puri sermonis amator | A lover of pure speech. (Terence) |
| Puris omnia pura | To the pure all things are pure |
| Putamus viam semper esse. | There is always a way. |
| Puto vos esse molestissimos | I think that you are very annoying |
