List of Latin phrases (C)

## C 
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|**combinatio nova**||new combination||It is frequently abbreviated *comb. nov.*. It is used in the life sciences literature when a new name is introduced, e.g. *Klebsiella granulomatis comb. nov.*. 
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|**communibus annis**||in common years||One year with another; on an average. "Common" here does not mean "ordinary", but "common to every situation"
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|**communibus locis**||in common places||A term frequently used among philosophical and other writers, implying some medium, or mean relation between several places; one place with another; on a medium. "Common" here does not mean "ordinary", but "common to every situation"
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|**communis opinio**||view of the common (man)||
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|**compos mentis**||in control of the mind||Describes someone of sound mind. Sometimes used ironically. Also a legal principle, *non compos mentis* (not in control of one's faculties), used to describe an insane person.
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|**concordia cum veritate**||in harmony with truth||Motto of the University of Waterloo.
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|**concordia salus**||well-being through harmony||Motto of Montreal. It is also the Bank of Montreal coat of arms and motto.
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|**condemnant quod non intellegunt**||They condemn what they do not understand orThey condemn because they do not understand ||The  here is ambiguous: it may be the relative pronoun or a conjunction.
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|**condicio sine qua non**||condition without which not||A required, indispensable condition. Commonly mistakenly rendered with *conditio* ("seasoning" or "preserving") in place of *condicio* ("arrangement" or "condition").
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|**confer (cf.)**||confer||"compare". Used as an abbreviation in text to recommend a comparison with another thing (cf. citation signal).
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|**Confoederatio Helvetica (C.H.)**||Helvetian Confederation||The official name of Switzerland, hence the use of "CH" for its ISO country code, ".ch" for its Internet domain, and "CHF" for the ISO three-letter abbreviation of its currency, the Swiss franc.
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|**coniunctis viribus**||with connected strength||Or "with united powers". Sometimes rendered *conjunctis viribus*.
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|**consuetudo pro lege servatur**||Custom is held as law.||Where there are no specific laws, the matter should be decided by custom; established customs have the force of laws. Also *consuetudo est altera lex* (custom is another law) and *consuetudo vincit communem legem* (custom overrules the common law); see also: Consuetudinary.
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|**consummatum est**||It is completed.||The last words of Jesus on the cross in the Latin translation of John 19:30.
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|**contemptus saeculi**||scorn for the time||Despising the secular world. The monk or philosopher's rejection of a mundane life and worldly values.
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|**contra bonos mores**||against good morals||Offensive to the conscience and to a sense of justice.
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|**contra legem**||against the law||
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|**contra spem spero**||hope against hope||Title of a poem by Lesya Ukrainka; also used in the Pentateuch with reference to Abraham the Patriarch.
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|**contradictio in terminis**||contradiction in terms||A thing or idea that would embody a contradiction, for example, payment for a gift, or a circle with corners. The fallacy of proposing such a thing.
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|**contra principia negantem non est disputandum**
|there can be no debate with those who deny the foundations
|Debate is fruitless when you do not agree on common rules, facts, presuppositions.
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|**contraria contrariis curantur**||the opposite is cured with the opposite||First formulated by Hippocrates to suggest that the diseases are cured with contrary remedies. Antonym of *similia similibus curantur* (the diseases are recovered with similar remedies.)
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|**cor ad cor loquitur**||heart speaks to heart||From Augustine's *Confessions*, referring to a prescribed method of prayer: having a "heart to heart" with God. Commonly used in reference to a later quote by Cardinal John Henry Newman. A motto of Newman Clubs.
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|**cor aut mors**||Heart or Death||(Your choice is between) The Heart (Moral Values, Duty, Loyalty) or Death (to no longer matter, to no longer be respected as person of integrity.)
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|**cor meum tibi offero domine prompte et sincere**||my heart I offer to you Lord promptly and sincerely||motto of Calvin College
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|**cor unum**||one heart||A popular school motto. Often used as names for religious and other organisations such as the Pontifical Council Cor Unum.
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|**coram Deo**||in the Presence of God||A phrase from Christian theology which summarizes the idea of Christians living in the Presence of, under the authority of, and to the honor and glory of God.
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|**coram nobis**, **coram vobis**||in our presence, in your presence||Two kinds of writs of error.
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|**coram populo**||in the presence of the people||Thus, openly.
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|**coram publico**||in view of the public||
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|**Corpus Christi**||Body of Christ||The name of a feast in the Roman Catholic Church commemorating the Eucharist. It is also the name of a city in Texas, Corpus Christi, Texas, and a controversial play.
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|**corpus delicti**||body of the offence||The fact that a crime has been committed, a necessary factor in convicting someone of having committed that crime; if there was no crime, there can not have been a criminal.
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|**Corpus Iuris Canonici**||Body of Canon Law||The official compilation of canon law in the Roman Catholic Church (cf. *Codex Iuris Canonici*).
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|**Corpus Iuris Civilis**||Body of Civil Law||The body of Roman or civil law.
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|**corpus vile**||worthless body||A person or thing fit only to be the object of an experiment.
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|**corrigenda**||things to be corrected||
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|**corruptio optimi pessima**||the corruption of the best is the worst||
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|**corruptissima re publica plurimae leges**||When the republic is at its most corrupt the laws are most numerous||A quote from Tacitus.
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|**corruptus in extremis**||corrupt to the extreme||Motto of the fictional Springfield Mayor Office in The Simpsons TV-Show
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|**cras amet qui nunquam amavit; quique amavit, cras amet**||May he love tomorrow who has never loved before; And may he who has loved, love tomorrow as well||It's the refrain from the 'Pervigilium Veneris', a poem which describes a three day holiday in the cult of Venus, located somewhere in Sicily, involving the whole town in religious festivities joined with a deep sense of nature and Venus as the "procreatrix", the life-giving force behind the natural world.
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|**Credo in Unum Deum**||I Believe in One God||The first words of the Nicene Creed and the Apostles' Creed.
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|**credo quia absurdum est**||I believe it because it is absurd||A very common misquote of Tertullian's *et mortuus est Dei Filius prorsus credibile quia ineptum est* (and the Son of God is dead: in short, it is credible because it is unfitting), meaning that it is so absurd to say that God's son has died that it would have to be a matter of belief, rather than reason. The misquoted phrase, however, is commonly used to mock the dogmatic beliefs of the religious (see fideism). This phrase is commonly shortened to *credo quia absurdum*, and is also sometimes rendered *credo quia impossibile est* (I believe it because it is impossible) or, as Darwin used it in his autobiography, *credo quia incredibile*.
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|**crescamus in Illo per omnia**||May we grow in Him through all things||Motto of Cheverus High School.
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|**crescat scientia vita excolatur**||let knowledge grow, let life be enriched||Motto of the University of Chicago.
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|**crescit eundo**||it grows as it goes||State motto of New Mexico, adopted in 1887 as the territory's motto, and kept in 1912 when New Mexico received statehood. Originally from Lucretius' *De rerum natura* book VI, where it refers in context to the motion of a thunderbolt across the sky, which acquires power and momentum as it goes.
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|**cruci dum spiro fido**||while I live, I trust in the cross, Whilst I trust in the Cross I have life||Motto of the Sisters of Loreto (IBVM) and its associated schools.
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|**cucullus non facit monachum**||The hood does not make the monk||William Shakespeare, *Twelfth Night*, Scene I, Act V 48–50
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|**cui bono**||Good for whom?||"Who benefits?" An adage in criminal investigation which suggests that considering who would benefit from an unwelcome event is likely to reveal who is responsible for that event (cf. *cui prodest*). Also the motto of the Crime Syndicate of America, a fictional supervillain group. The opposite is *cui malo* (Bad for whom?).
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|**cui prodest**||for whom it advances||Short for *cui prodest scelus is fecit* (for whom the crime advances, he has done it) in Seneca's *Medea*. Thus, the murderer is often the one who gains by the murder (cf. *cui bono*).
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|**cuius est solum eius est usque ad coelum et ad inferos**||Whose the land is, all the way to the sky and to the underworld is his.||First coined by Accursius of Bologna in the 13th century. A Roman legal principle of property law that is no longer observed in most situations today. Less literally, "For whosoever owns the soil, it is theirs up to the sky and down to the depths."
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|**cuius regio, eius religio**||whose region, his religion||The privilege of a ruler to choose the religion of his subjects. A regional prince's ability to choose his people's religion was established at the Peace of Augsburg in 1555.
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|**cuiusvis hominis est errare, nullius nisi insipientis in errore perseverare.**||Anyone can err, but only the fool persists in his fault||Cicero, Philippica XII, 5.
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|**culpa**||fault||Also "blame" or "guilt". In law, an act of neglect. In general, guilt, sin, or a fault. See also *mea culpa*.
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|**cum gladiis et fustibus**||with swords and clubs||From the Bible. Occurs in  and .
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|**cum gladio et sale**||with sword and salt||Motto of a well-paid soldier. See salary.
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|**cum grano salis**||with a grain of salt||Not to be taken too seriously or as the literal truth.
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|**cum hoc ergo propter hoc**||with this, therefore on account of this||fallacy of assuming that correlation implies causation.
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|**cum laude**||with praise||The standard formula for academic Latin honors in the United States. Greater honors include *magna cum laude* and *summa cum laude*.
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|**cum mortuis in lingua mortua**||with the dead in a dead language||Movement from *Pictures at an Exhibition* by Modest Mussorgsky
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|**cuncti adsint meritaeque expectant praemia palmae**||let all come who by merit deserve the most reward||Motto of University College London.
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|**cur Deus Homo**||Why the God-Man||The question attributed to Saint Anselm in his work by this name, wherein he reflects on why the Christ of Christianity must be both fully Divine and fully Human. Often translated "Why did God become Man?"
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|**cura personalis**||care for the whole person|| Motto of the University of Scranton.
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|**cura te ipsum**||take care of your own self||An exhortation to physicians, or experts in general, to deal with their own problems before addressing those of others.
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|**curriculum vitae**||course of life|| An overview of a person's life and qualifications, often known as a CV, similar to a resume.
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|**custos morum**||keeper of morals||A censor.
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|**cygnis insignis**||distinguished by its swans||Motto of Western Australia.
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|**cygnus inter anates**||swan among ducks||
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## References