Expert: Maria - 3/29/2005

Question
Hi,
   I've been interested in getting a tattoo of the phrase 'know thyself' in latin, however I've had some trouble getting an accurate translation. Many resources translate this as 'nosce te ipsum,' however I have also seen it translated as 'temet nosce.' I'm not sure which, if either is correct and any clarification you could offer on this subject would greatly appreciated.
     Many Thanks,
     Hannah.

Answer
Hi,

Both the Latin  translations “Nosce te ipsum” and “Temet nosce” are correct.

In fact:
-"Know"  is NOSCE (imperative, 2nd.person singular)
-"thyself" is TE IPSUM or TEMET.

Please note that in TE IPSUM the pronoun TE is ‘thy (your)'and IPSUM is ‘self', while  in TEMET the pronoun TE is ‘thy (your)' and MET (a Latin strengthened form) is ‘self'.

Hope all is clear enough.
Best regards
Maria
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In ANCIENT GREEK the sentence was “Gnothi sauton”, where
'Know' is GNOTHI and 'Thyself' is SAUTON.

This sentence was on the pediment of the temple of Apollo [the god of Light, Truth, Music and Medicine] at Delphi, Greece.