Amitkumar Bavishi
Many of our readers are students, pursing Professional courses, like CA, CS, CMA, etc., aiming to be a great professional in their life. While going through the studies most of us find hard to understand the meaning of some terms, words and/ or expressions, due to their origin in different languages. This piece of writing is my deliberate attempt to make you aware of such terms, words, and/or expressions, with an aim to help you, during your studies.
English has borrowed generously from other languages, mostly from Latin, Greek, French and German. Many of the borrowed terms, words and/or expressions have been anglicized and today are an integral in English vocabulary in their original or modified form e.g., restaurant, rapport, viva voce, etc…
Jargon means language that is special to science, technology, art, or profession. There is for instance legal jargon, military jargon and political jargon.
These terms, words and/or expressions are liberally used in English and yet continue to return their foreign flavors. The expressions given below are of technical nature pertaining to law, philosophy, politics and ‘officialdom’.
| WORDS | LANGUAGE OF ORIGIN | MEANING |
| ab initio | Latin | from the beginning |
| ab origin | Latin | from the origin |
| ad libitum | Latin | speak or perform in public without advance preparation |
| ad valorem | Latin | according to the value |
| ad hoc | Latin | a body elected or appointed for a particular work |
| ad infinitum | Latin | to infinity, endlessly, forever |
| a la carte | French | according to the card/list |
| a la mode | French | according to the fashion |
| amende honorable | French | a public apology |
| Apropos | Latin | with reference to |
| au fait | French | expert, having detailed knowledge |
| au revoir | French | until we meet again |
| avant-propos | French | preliminary matter, preface |
| avant-garde | French | new, unusual or experimental |
| bête noire | French | a special aversion |
| bona fide | Latin | good faith |
| Bizarre | French | strange unknown |
| bon voyage | French | have a good journey |
| casus belli | Latin | that which causes or justifies war |
| chef d’ oeuvre | French | masterpiece |
| Circa | Latin | approximately |
| Confere | French | colleague |
| Contretemps | French | a minor dispute or disagreement |
| corrigenda | Latin | a thing to be corrected (in a book) |
| coup d’etat | French | violent change in government |
| coup de grace | French | a finishing stroke |
| cul-de-sac | French | a blind valley |
| de facto | Latin | actual or in fact |
| de jure | Latin | from the law, by right |
| de novo | Latin | anew, again |
| dernier resort | French | last resort |
| Elite | Latin | the best part, the pick |
| entrepreneur | French | a person who sets up business taking greater financial risk |
| en masse | French | all together |
| en rapport | French | in harmony |
| Errata | Latin | list of errors |
| esprit de corps | French | the animating spirit of a particular group like a regiment |
| et cetera | Latin | and the rest |
| Eureka | Greek | i have found it |
| exempli gratia | Latin | for example |
| ex post facto | Latin | with retrospective action or force |
| faux pas | French | a social blunder |
| hoi polloi | Greek | the common people |
| id est | Latin | that is more precisely |
| Impasse | French | a deadlock |
| in extensor | Latin | in full |
| in memorium | Latin | in memory of |
| in toto | Latin | entirely /as a whole |
| laissez-faire | French | a policy of non-interference |
| mala fide | Latin | in bad faith |
| modus operandi | Latin | a way of doing something |
| mutatis mutandis | Latin | with the necessary changes |
| nota bene | Latin | note well |
| pari passu | Latin | side by side, equally or equivalently |
| per se | Latin | by itself |
| prima facie | Latin | at first view of consideration |
| probono public | Latin | for the good of the public |
| pro forma | Latin | denoting a standard document or form |
| pro rata | Latin | according to value or proportion |
| quid pro quo | Latin | a favor or advantage given in return for something |
| raison d’ etre | French | the most important reason for a thing’s existence |
| Resume | French | a summary or curriculum vitae |
| sanctum sanctorum | Latin | holy of holies |
| Seriatim | Latin | point by point |
| sine die | Latin | without a day being appointed |
| status quo | Latin | the existing condition |
| Stet | Latin | let it stand, do not deter |
| sub rosa | Latin | confidentially/done in secret |
| sui generis | Latin | in a class by itself |
| terra incognita | Latin | an unknown territory |
| ultra vires | Latin | beyond one’s authority |
| Verbatim | Latin | word for word |
| vice versa | Latin | conversely |
| Videlicet | Latin | namely, more formal term for ‘viz.’ |
| vis-à-vis | French | in relation to, as compared with, as opposed to |
| viva voce | Latin | an oral examination |
| Zeitgeist | Greek | the defining spirit of a particular period or age |
There is an aged old well-known saying “PEN IS MIGHTIER THAN THE SWORD”. Hence, one must learn the exact meaning of the words and more importantly their right usage to convey the information & expressing the ideas in the most proficient & valuable way.
I hope this piece of was helpful for you, please share your feedback.
Author Bio
Good collection
Read. Thanks.
Very useful information for not only professionals but to everybody.
Thanks Amitkumar.
Great Attempt…very Useful
Thanks for the post, MR. Amitkumar Bavishi. There are the alien words for me as far as I am concerned, which I am longing to understand the meaning and the usage. The opportunity has come to me through this post. Once again thank you so much and the TAxguru.
Regards,
S.Balasubramanian