homo homini lupus

Latin

Etymology

From homō (“a human being, man”) + hominī (“to man”, dative singular of the same) + lupus (“a wolf”). As is typical of Latin proverbs, the sentence is nominal (lacks the copular est).

First attested in Erasmus' Adagia,[1] a variation on the proverb alluded to by Plautus in Lupus est homō hominī, nōn homō, quom quālis sit nōn nōvit ("To a human, a human is not a human but a wolf when he doesn't know what the other one is like").[2] Compare Erasmus' Hominī nūlla fera perniciōsior quam homō ("No beast is more dangerous to a human than another human").

Pronunciation

Phrase

homō hominī lupus

  1. man is a wolf to man (what wolf is to other animals, man is to another man)

Descendants

References
  1. “Homo homini lupus”, in ihrim.huma-num.fr‎, 2021 May 13 (last accessed)
  2. “Titus Maccius Plautus, Asinaria 495”, in latin.packhum.org‎, 2021 May 13 (last accessed)

Further reading
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