carpe diem

English

WOTD – 9 January 2013

Alternative forms

Etymology

Learned borrowing from Latin carpe diem (enjoy the day, literally pluck (or harvest) the day).

Pronunciation

  • (UK) IPA(key): /ˌkɑː.piː ˈdaɪ.ɛm/,[1] IPA(key): /ˌkɑː.peɪ ˈdiː.əm/
  • (US) IPA(key): /ˌkɑɹ.pi ˈdaɪ.ɛm/, IPA(key): /ˌkɑɹ.peɪ ˈdi.əm/
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Proverb

carpe diem

  1. Enjoy the present, make the most of today, (common mistranslation) seize the day.
    • 1905, G. K. Chesterton, Heretics, New York: John Lane, →OL:
      It is the carpe diem religion; but the carpe diem religion is not the religion of happy people, but of very unhappy people.
    • 2007 July 30, Lee Harris, “Can Carpe Diem Societies Survive?”, in The Suicide of Reason: Radical Islam's Threat to the West, New York: Basic Books, →ISBN, →LCCN, →OL, page 241:
      Indeed, in an extreme carpe diem society, children are raised without being given any sense that they have a transgenerational duty to the as yet unborn— the duty to leave them a better world.
    • 2011 January 29, “Rollercoaster: The Musical!” (“Carpe Diem” (song)), in Phineas and Ferb, season 2, episode 38:
      Just grab those opportunities when you see 'em / Cause every day's a brand new day, you gotta carpe diem

Synonyms

Translations

See also

References

  1. carpe diem”, in OED Online Paid subscription required, Oxford, Oxfordshire: Oxford University Press, launched 2000.

Anagrams

Latin

Etymology

From the end of the poem Odes I.11 by Horace, ancient Roman poet.

Sapiās, vīna liquēs, et spatio brevī
spem longam resecēs. Dum loquimur, fūgerit invidā
aetās. Carpe diem quam minimum crēdula posterō.
Be wise, make wine, and in a short time,
lose any great hope. As we speak, time is cruelly slipping away.
Enjoy the day, believing the least in the future.

Pronunciation

Phrase

carpe diem

  1. carpe diem, enjoy the day; (common mistranslation) seize the day

Portuguese

Proverb

carpe diem

  1. seize the day (enjoy the present)
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