tempus fugit

English

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin tempus fugit, from the third book of the Georgics by the Roman poet Virgil (70–19 BCE): sed fugit interea fugit irreparabile tempus (“meanwhile, the irreplaceable time escapes”, literally “but it flees meanwhile: irretrievable time flees”).

Proverb

tempus fugit

(phrasal) Synonym of time flies.
- 1880 December 19, “D. Crawford & Co.”, in St. Louis Globe-Democrat, volume 6, number 203, St. Louis, Mo., →ISSN, →OCLC, page 1, column 1:
  TEMPUS FUGIT!! And Christmas has Come Again, and with all its Joys and Pleasures, not the least of which IS THE ONE OF GIVING!!
- 1908, Percy Keese Fitzhugh, King Time: Or The Mystical Land of the Hours, a Fantasy, New York and Boston: H.M. Caldwell Company, page 181:
  Suddenly the assemblage began to sing. "Let the flag of the kingdom, so graceful and fair, / Be raised while its citizens sing, / 'Hurrah! Tempus Fugit!' the national air, / And kneel to our glorious king!
Expressing concern that one's limited time is being consumed by something which may have little intrinsic substance or importance at that moment; often, synonym of life is short.

Translations

time flies — see time flies

Latin

Pronunciation

(Classical Latin) IPA^(key): [ˈtɛm.pʊs ˈfʊ.ɡɪt]
(modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): [ˈtɛm.pus ˈfuː.d͡ʒit]

Phrase