Browse phrases beginning with:
[A][B][C][D][E][F][G][H][I][J][K][L][M][N][O][P][Q][R][S][T][U,V][W][X,Y,Z]
Carpe diem
Meaning
Usually translated from the Latin as 'seize the day', or sometimes as 'enjoy the day, pluck the day when it is ripe'.
Origin
The origin source for the Latin phrase is Horace - in Odes Book I:
Dum loquimur, fugerit invida
Aetas: carpe diem, quam minimum credula postero
which translates as:
While we're talking, envious time is fleeing: seize the day, put no trust in the future
Lord Byron was the first to integrate it into English in his 1817 'Letters', which was published in 1830 by T. Moore:
"I never anticipate, - carpe diem - the past at least is one's own, which is one reason for making sure of the present."
Byron's use of a quotation from Horace isn't surprising as the poet published 'Hints from Horace' just a few years earlier, in 1811.
See also - Latin Phrases in English.