View source for Tempus fugit

{{short description|Latin phrase meaning "time flies"}}
{{Italic title}}
{{other uses}}
[[File:E4CC appendix2.jpg|thumb|A winged hourglass representing time flying, designed for gravestones and monuments]]
'''''Tempus fugit''''' ({{IPA|la-x-classic|ˈt̪ɛmpʊs̠ ˈfʊɡit̪}}) is a Latin phrase, usually translated into English as "'''time flies'''". The expression comes from line 284 of book 3 of [[Virgil]]'s ''[[Georgics]]'',<ref name=pube>[[Publius Vergilius Maro|Vergilius Maro, Publius]]. [[s:la:Georgicon/Liber III|''Georgicon'', III]]. c.&nbsp;29&nbsp;BC. Hosted at [[Wikisource]]. {{in lang|la}}</ref> where it appears as [[wikt:fugit#Latin|''fugit'']] [[wikt:irreparabile#Latin|''irreparabile'']] [[wikt:tempus#Latin|''tempus'']]: "it escapes, irretrievable time". The phrase is used in both its Latin and English forms as a [[list of English proverbs|proverb]] that "time's a-wasting".

==Usage==
[[File:Redu CS3aJPG.jpg|thumb|An example of the phrase as a [[list of sundial mottos|sundial motto]] in [[Redu]], Belgium.]]
''Tempus fugit'' is typically employed as an admonition against sloth and procrastination (cf. ''[[carpe diem]]'') rather than an argument for licentiousness (cf. "[[To the Virgins, to Make Much of Time|gather ye rosebuds while ye may]]"); the English form is often merely descriptive: "time flies like the wind", "time flies when you're having fun".

The phrase is a common [[motto]], particularly [[list of sundial mottos|on sundials]] and clocks.  It also has been used on [[gravestones]].

Some writers have attempted rebuttals: "Time goes, you say? Ah, no! alas, time stays, we go."  by Henry Austin Dobson (1840–1921)."Hêd Amser! / Meddi Na! / Erys Amser / Dyn Â" on sundial at Univ of Bangor, North Wales. says the sundial was commissioned by Sir William Henry Preece, and offers an English equivalent: "Time flies, thou sayest – Nay!  Man flies; Time still doth stay." Another English version is: "Time Flies, Say Not So: Time Remains,'Tis Man Must Go."

[[Bud Powell]]'s composition "[[Tempus Fugue-it]]" is a pun on the phrase.

==In the ''Georgics''==
The phrase's full appearance in Virgil's ''Georgics'' is:
{|class="wikitable"
|-
! Original<br /><small>([[Virgil]])<ref name=pube /></small>
! Translation<br /><small>([[John Dryden|Dryden]])<ref>[[John Dryden|Dryden, John]] (trans.). [https://books.google.com/books?id=pB0-AAAAcAAJ&pg=PA163 ''The Works of Virgil: Containing His Pastorals, Georgics, and Æneis'', 3rd&nbsp;ed., Vol.&nbsp;I, pp.&nbsp;163–166]. Jacob Tonson (London), 1709. Hosted at Google Books. Accessed 30 May 2014.</ref></small>
! Translation<br /><small>([[James Rhoades|Rhoades]])<ref>[[James Rhoades|Rhoades, James]] (trans.). [http://classics.mit.edu/Virgil/georgics.3.iii.html ''Bucolics, Aeneid, and Georgics of Vergil'']. Ginn &&nbsp;Co. (Boston), 1900. Hosted at MIT. Accessed 30 May 2014.</ref></small>
|-
| [[wikt:omne#Latin|''Omne'']] [[wikt:adeo#Latin|''adeo'']] [[wikt:genus#Latin|''genus'']] [[wikt:in#Latin|''in'']] [[wikt:terris#Latin|''terris'']] [[wikt:hominum#Latin|''hominum'']][[wikt:-que#Latin|''que'']] [[wikt:ferarum#Latin|''ferarum'']][[wikt:-que#Latin|''que'']]
| Thus every Creature&thinsp;, and of every Kind&thinsp;,<br />The secret Joys of sweet Coition find&thinsp;:<br />Not only Man's Imperial Race&thinsp;;&thinsp;.&thinsp;.&thinsp;.
| Nay, every race on earth of men, and beasts,
|-
| [[wikt:et#Latin|''et'']] [[wikt:genus#Latin|''genus'']] [[wikt:aequoreum#Latin|''aequoreum'']], [[wikt:pecudes#Latin|''pecudes'']] [[wikt:pictae#Latin|''pictae'']][[wikt:-que#Latin|''que'']] [[wikt:volucres#Latin|''volucres'']],
| &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;.&thinsp;.&thinsp;.&thinsp;but they<br />That wing the liquid Air&thinsp;; or swim the Sea&thinsp;,<br />Or haunt the [[wikt:desart|Desart]]&thinsp;,&thinsp;.&thinsp;.&thinsp;.
| And ocean-folk, and flocks, and painted birds,
|-
| [[wikt:in#Latin|''in'']] [[wikt:furias#Latin|''furias'']] [[wikt:ignem#Latin|''ignem'']][[wikt:-que#Latin|''que'']] [[wikt:ruunt#Latin|''ruunt'']]: [[wikt:amor#Latin|''amor'']] [[wikt:omnibus#Latin|''omnibus'']] [[wikt:idem#Latin|''idem'']]. ...
| &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;.&thinsp;.&thinsp;.&thinsp;rush into the flame&thinsp;:<br />For Love is Lord of all&thinsp;; and is in all the same&thinsp;.
| Rush to the raging fire: love sways them all.
|-
| [[wikt:sed#Latin|''Sed'']] [[wikt:fugit#Latin|''fugit'']] [[wikt:interea#Latin|''interea'']], [[wikt:fugit#Latin|''fugit'']] [[wikt:inreparabile#Latin|''inreparabile'']] [[wikt:tempus#Latin|''tempus'']],
| But time is lost&thinsp;, which never will renew&thinsp;,
|Fast flies meanwhile the irreparable hour,
|-
| [[wikt:singula#Latin|''singula'']] [[wikt:dum#Latin|''dum'']] [[wikt:capti#Latin|''capti'']] [[wikt:circumvectamur#Latin|''circumvectamur'']] [[wikt:amore#Latin|''amore'']].
| While we too far the pleasing Path pursue&thinsp;;<br />Surveying Nature&thinsp;, with too nice a view&thinsp;.
| As point to point our charmed round we trace.
|}

==See also==
* [[Time flies like an arrow; fruit flies like a banana]]
* ''[[Ars longa, vita brevis]]''
* ''[[Carpe diem]]''
* ''[[Got a Lot o' Livin' to Do!]]'', sung by [[Elvis Presley]], in which "times a wasting" appears as a lyric.
* ''[[Memento mori]]''

==References==
{{reflist}}

== External links ==
{{commonscat}}
* {{wti|tempus fugit|''tempus fugit''}}

{{Time Topics}}
{{Virgil}}

[[Category:Latin mottos]]
[[Category:Latin words and phrases]]
[[Category:Time management]]
[[Category:Virgil]]