Know thyself Know thyself The Ancient Greek aphorism "know thyself" (Greek: , transliterated: '; also ' with the ε contracted), is one of the Delphic maxims and was inscribed in the pronaos (forecourt) of the Temple of Apollo at Delphi according to the Greek writer Pausanias (10.24.1). The phrase was later expounded upon by the philosopher Socrates who taught that: In Latin the phrase, "know thyself," is given as "nosce te ipsum" or "temet nosce". The maxim, or aphorism, "know thyself" has had a variety of meanings attributed to it in literature. According to a proposal by De Lubicz and Lamy (1956),
Latin influence in English became wholly English. By the time Middle English arose as the dominant language in the late 14th century, the Normans (French people) had contributed roughly 10,000 words to English of which 75% remain in use today. Continued use of Latin by the Church and centres of learning brought a steady, though dramatically reduced, influx of new Latin lexical borrowings. During the English Renaissance, from around 1500–1650, some 10,000 to 12,000 words entered the English lexicon, including "lexicon". Some examples include: aberration, allusion, anachronism, democratic, dexterity, enthusiasm, imaginary, juvenile, pernicious, sophisticated. Many of these words were borrowed directly from Latin, both