Why Latin terms and expressions are important?
Before I tell you the importance of Latin I would like to acknowledge you that Latin is a regarded as a ‘dead’ language because it is not used as a main language in any nation and we do not use it in day-to-day communications.
But however, Latin remains very much alive as a highly significant language, especially in business, technical definitions, law, education, grammar, and science, etc.
Although Latin is not a main language of any country, but still Latin is being taught to millions of students around the world, and will continue to be for a very long time to come.
The fundamental reason is:
Latin is the main and most recent root language for many major languages in the world.
Also, for centuries, in fact for more than two millennium, Latin has been a main language of scholarship and academia.
More specifically:
For many centuries Latin has been used widely in law and law is crucial to governance and leadership, society and civilization, diplomacy and international relations, business, trade, and commerce, finance, the military etc.
Latin is obviously vital for the operation of many fundamental professions and disciplines, and for the rest of us, Latin remains fascinating and helpful in understanding our day-to-day language, especially the Latin expressions and terminology which survive and arise in business, technical definitions, law, education, grammar, and science, etc.
Here are few examples of Latin terms which are used frequently in English, including some extremely common abbreviations:
alias
bona fide
affidavit
N.B. (nota bene)
e.g. (exempli gratia)
etc. (et cetera ), and
P.S. (post script)
Here are some must know Latin terms
alibi: elsewhere, at another place
alias : at another time, otherwise
per se: by itself
versus: Against
affidavit: he pledged, a sworn, written statement
bona fide: (in) good faith, sincere, genuine
habeas corpus: bring a person before a court
per diem: per day, by the day, daily
pro bono: for the good
Ab initio: from the beginning
ad hoc: for a specific purpose, case, or situation
de facto: from the fact, in reality;
ipso facto: by the fact itself
prima facie: at first sight
pro forma: for the sake of form
inter alia: among other things
sine die: postponed indefinitely
sub judice: under the judge, pending judgment
ultra vires: beyond strength, outside one’s jurisdiction