quot homines tot sententiæ

quot homines tot sententiæ

English

Alternative forms

Alternative forms

• quot homines, tot sentenciæ (obsolete)
• quot homines tot sententiae
• quot homines tot sententiæ

• quot homines, tot sententiae
• quot homines, tot sententiæ
• tot homines quot sententiæ

Etymology

From Latin, echoing line 454 of Terence’s Phormio:[1] quot (“how many”) + hominēs (“men”, “people”; nominative plural form of homō: “man”, “person”) + tot (“so many”) + sententiae (“opinions”, “thoughts”; nominative plural form of sententia: “opinion”, “thought”).

Pronunciation

• (Classical) IPA^(key): [ˌkʷot ˈhomineːs ˌtot senˈtentiai]
• (Received Pronunciation) enPR: kwŏt' hŏʹmĭnāz tŏt' sĕntĕnʹtĭī, IPA^(key): /ˌkwɒt ˈhɒmɪneɪz ˌtɒt sɛnˈtɛntɪaɪ/
• (US) enPR: kwŏt' hŏʹmĭnāz tŏt' sĕntĕnʹtiī', IPA^(key): /ˌkwɑt ˈhɑmɪneɪz ˌtɑt sɛnˈtɛntiˌaɪ/

Phrase

quot homines tot sententiæ

1. There are as many opinions as there are people who hold them.
   • 1995: Brian Vickers, William Shakespeare: The Critical Heritage, page 133

     Different auditors, as he observes, have different habitudes; so that, were we to put this assertion to the proof by particular applications, we should possibly find quot homines tot sententiæ.

References

• “‖quot homines tot sententiae” listed in the Oxford English Dictionary [2^nd Ed.; 1989]
• “quot homines tot sententiae, phr.” listed in the Oxford English Dictionary [draft revision; Apr. 2012]
• Notes:

1. Phormio, by Terence (161 BC), line 454
     quot homines tot sententiae: suo’ quoique mos
       as many men, so many minds: to every one his own way