tempus fugit
English
Etymology
Borrowed from Latin tempus fugit, from the third book of the Georgics by the Roman poet Virgil (70–19 BCE): sed fugit interea fugit irreparabile tempus (“meanwhile, the irreplaceable time escapes”, literally “but it flees meanwhile: irretrievable time flees”).
Proverb
tempus fugit
- (phrasal) Synonym of time flies.
- 1908, Percy Keese Fitzhugh, King Time: Or The Mystical Land of the Hours, a Fantasy, New York and Boston: H.M. Caldwell Company, page 181:
- Suddenly the assemblage began to sing. "Let the flag of the kingdom, so graceful and fair, / Be raised while its citizens sing, / 'Hurrah! Tempus Fugit!' the national air, / And kneel to our glorious king!
- Expressing concern that one's limited time is being consumed by something which may have little intrinsic substance or importance at that moment; often, synonym of life is short.
Translations
time flies — see time flies
Further reading
tempus fugit on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
Latin
Pronunciation
- (Classical) IPA(key): /ˈtem.pus ˈfu.ɡit/, [ˈt̪ɛmpʊs̠ ˈfʊɡɪt̪]
- (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA(key): /ˈtem.pus ˈfu.d͡ʒit/, [ˈt̪ɛmpus ˈfuːd͡ʒit̪]
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