Login or register (free and only takes a few minutes) to participate in this question.You will also have access to many other tools and opportunities designed for those who have language-related jobs (or are passionate about them). Participation is free and the site has a strict confidentiality policy. Latin to English translations [PRO]
Law (general) | | Latin term or phrase: Qui pro domina justitia sequitur | This Latin (translated from English I guess) saying appears on the Seal of thr US Department of Justice.
Does it mean: the one who wants to rule must follow justice?
I found iustitia domina virtutem in a Latin<>English dictionary. Is Justicia dog Latin compared to the classical iustitia. |
|   Gad KohenovKudoZ activityQuestions: 782 ( 5 open) ( 25 without valid answers) ( 17 closed without grading) Answers: 7627
| | Local time: 01:54
|
| | English translation:He who takes legal action on behalf of Lady Justice. | Explanation:
I think what the Department of Justice web site has to say about this is completely clear (see http://www.usdoj.gov/jmd/ls/dojseal.htm), although people do advance different interpretations with more or less grammatical rigor. There's a well-attested use of the expression before Queen Elizabeth I. Domina and iustitia (the j is a Late Latin/Medieval spelling) are both ablative after pro. I suspect, however, that the expression is not classical without lis as a direct object of sequor.
--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 8 hrs (2008-08-15 20:57:34 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------
Before here = 'in the presence of', not 'earlier than'. |
| Selected response from:
Stephen C. Farrand
United States
Local time: 18:54
| Grading comment Thanks to all of you.
4 KudoZ points were awarded for this answer |
| |
| Discussion entries: 0 |
|---|
Automatic update in 00:
|
23 mins confidence:  
1 hr confidence: peer agreement (net): +1 Who pursues justice for a mistress
Explanation:
'Iustitia' (the classical spelling; j for consonantal i is Mediaeval) is pretty certainly a typo for acc. 'iustitiam', otherwise the whole is gibberish.
The preposition 'pro' sometimes has the force of a comparative particle, meaning 'for, as, the same as, just as'. Cf., e.g., Plautus, Stichus, 3.1.65: sese ducit pro adulescentulo; Cicero, ad Atticum, 2.5.1: Cato ille noster qui mihi unus est pro centum milibus; Pliny, Epistulae, 1.12.3: summa ratio, quae sapientibus pro necessitate est. For other examples of this nuance, see Lewis & Short and the Oxford Latin Dictionary s.v. pro.
| | |
| | Login to enter a peer comment (or grade) |
Return to KudoZ list
|
| | | | X Sign in to your ProZ.com account... | | | | |
| KudoZ™ translation helpThe KudoZ network provides a framework for translators and others to assist each other with translations or explanations of terms and short phrases. See also: Search millions of term translations  |
The translation workplace 
