User:Marcmiquel/Homo sum, humani nihil a me alienum puto

Homo sum, humani nihil a me alienum puto is a phrase in Latin that means "I am man, nothing that is human is indifferent to me". ^[1]

It is a phrase originating from Publius Terence Afer (c. 184 BC - ~ 159 BC), from his comedy Heautontimorumenos (The tormentor of himself), from the year 165 BC, where it is pronounced by the character Cremes to justify his meddling.

Nevertheless, the quote has remained for posterity as a justification of what human behavior should be.

The phrase is often linked with pride, yet it usually reflects humility and an acknowledgment of personal fallibility, much like the sayings "to err is human" and "let him who is without sin cast the first stone."

Grammatical analysis

The text contains two declarative sentences with the following literal meaning:

Homo : masculine singular noun, in the nominative case, pronounced in Latin Homo, hominis and meaning 'man'.
sum : first person singular of the present indicative of the verb sum, fui, esse, which means 'I am'.
humani : adjective of the first class or group, genitive singular neuter, in Latin humanus, a, um, which means 'that which is human' or, simply, 'human'.
nihil : neutral singular noun, in the accusative case, which is pronounced in Latin as nihil, nihilis, and means ''nothing '' .
a : preposition governing the ablative in its complement, which normally means 'of', but which in this context can be translated as 'for'.
me : personal pronoun in the ablative case introduced by the previous preposition, which in Catalan means 'me'.
alienum : adjective of the first group or class, in accusative singular neuter, which in Latin is pronounced alienus, a, um and which means 'stranger' or 'alien'.
puto : verb of the first form of conjugation in the first person singular of the present active indicative, which in Latin is pronounced Puto, putas, putare, putavi, putatum and means 'I think' or 'I consider'.

References

↑ Jocelyn, H. D. (1973-01). "Homo sum: humani nil a me alienum puto (Terence, Heauton timorumenos 77)". Antichthon. 7: 14–46. doi:10.1017/S0066477400004299. ISSN 0066-4774. {{cite journal}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)

[[Category:Latin words and phrases]]

[1] Jocelyn, H. D. (1973-01). "Homo sum: humani nil a me alienum puto (Terence, Heauton timorumenos 77)". Antichthon. 7: 14–46. doi:10.1017/S0066477400004299. ISSN 0066-4774. {{cite journal}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)

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