“Acta Non Verba” Meaning And Use in English(+In A Sentence)

Vocabulary / By

Many words and phrases in the English language are of Latin origin. For example, the phrase magna cum laude is of Latin origin, and it now describes students graduating with high grades. Acta non verba is a Latin phrase, but what exactly does it mean?

Acta non verba is an expression that translates to “actions not words”. In simpler terms, this phrase says to act, not waste time with words. It’s a motivating phrase encouraging others to stop thinking so much and to do their actions. 

The rest of this article will cover what acta non verba means, and how to use it.

What Acta Non Verba Means

This phrase sounds like a sentence out of a gladiator story. It’s not used very often, especially not in verbal communication. However, acta non verba is a type of inspirational phrase just like Nike’s famous slogan, “just do it”.

To explain in more detail, let’s break it down by each word. Acta is the first part of the phrase, and it has several meanings beyond just ‘act’. For starters, it also means beach. There are different variants of the word, two of which are nouns, and one is a verb.

The verb version describes acta as a physical act such as conducting or driving. Or, it can be one of the two nouns. One describes the beach, and the other describes a deed. That leads to non, which is the simplest of the three words since it’s an adverb meaning no, not, etc.

Lastly, verba is simple too. It’s a noun, and it means ‘word’. When you put these together, you get acta (act), non (not), verba (word). It quite literally means acts, not words.

How To Use Acta Non Verba

Acta non verba can be used as is. You can say it to someone, although keep in mind you might have to explain it to them since it’s an uncommon phrase in modern times. If anyone’s ever down in the dumps, or focusing too much on words, you can say “acta non verba”.

If saying acta non verba doesn’t appeal to you, you can use its synonyms to get the message across. You can even explain the concept by saying “it’s time to do actions, not words”. Any combination of this expression can be used in daily life as a sentence.

 

Conor
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