Latin quote · Health

Neque ignorare medicum oportet quae sit aegri natura

“Nor should a physician be ignorant of the nature of the patient.”

Adapted from Celsus, De medicina, Prooemium 53 (neque ignorare hunc oportet, quae sit aegri natura)

Translation

What does “Neque ignorare medicum oportet quae sit aegri natura” mean?

Neque ignorare medicum oportet quae sit aegri natura translates as “Nor should a physician be ignorant of the nature of the patient.”

Good medicine treats the person, not only the disease. A doctor needs to know the patient’s constitution, habits and circumstances to heal well.

Word by word

“Neque ignorare medicum oportet quae sit aegri natura” word by word

Latin	English	Grammar
Neque	nor, and not	a conjunction and adverb meaning “nor” or “and not”; here it negates the whole statement
ignorare	to be ignorant of, to not know	present infinitive active of ignoro, “I do not know”; it depends on oportet
medicum	the physician	accusative singular masculine of medicus, “physician”; the subject of the infinitive ignorare
oportet	it is fitting, it is necessary	third person singular present of the impersonal verb oportet; it takes an accusative and infinitive
quae	what	feminine nominative singular interrogative adjective agreeing with natura, introducing an indirect question
sit	is	third person singular present subjunctive of sum, “I am”; the subjunctive is used in the indirect question
aegri	of the patient	genitive singular masculine of aeger, “sick; a sick person”, used here as a noun
natura	the nature	nominative singular feminine of natura, “nature, constitution”; the subject of sit

Pronunciation

How to pronounce “Neque ignorare medicum oportet quae sit aegri natura”

Classical LatinNEH-kweh ig-noh-RAH-reh MEH-dee-koom oh-POR-tet kwye sit EYE-gree nah-TOO-rah

Church LatinNEH-kweh ee-nyoh-RAH-reh MEH-dee-koom oh-POR-tet kweh seet EH-gree nah-TOO-rah

Classical Latin keeps a hard g in ignorare and says ae as eye; Church Latin says gn as ny and ae as eh, so quae becomes kweh and aegri EH-gree. Medicum is stressed on its first syllable, oportet on its second, and ignorare and natura on the syllable before the last.

Origin & context

The story behind it

Word for word the line says that a physician should not be ignorant of what the nature of the sick person is. The sense is that a doctor must understand the individual patient and not only the illness.

The thought comes from Celsus, the Roman writer of the first century AD whose De medicina is one of the main surviving Latin works on medicine. In its preface he writes that the physician must know the patient’s nature: whether the body is moist or dry, the sinews strong or weak, illness frequent or rare.

Celsus wrote hunc (“him”, meaning the physician), and the form quoted here puts medicum in its place, so it is a lightly adapted quotation. Today the line suits discussions of patient-centred care.

When to use it

How to use “Neque ignorare medicum oportet quae sit aegri natura”

It suits a medical graduation card, a framed line on the wall of a family practice, or the opening of an essay or talk on patient-centred care.

Latin: Neque ignorare medicum oportet quae sit aegri natura
English: Nor should a physician be ignorant of the nature of the patient.
Source: Adapted from Celsus, De medicina, Prooemium 53 (neque ignorare hunc oportet, quae sit aegri natura)
Era: Classical
Theme: Health

Good to know

Common mistakes

Do not credit it to Hippocrates or Galen. The Latin comes from Celsus, slightly adapted.
Aegri is genitive singular, “of the patient”. For several patients you would need aegrorum, “of the patients”.
Quae agrees with natura and means “what”, not “which things”. Reading it as a relative pronoun distorts the sentence.
Do not drop oportet. Without it the line loses its sense of obligation.

FAQ

Questions about “Neque ignorare medicum oportet quae sit aegri natura”

What does “Neque ignorare medicum oportet quae sit aegri natura” mean?

“Nor should a physician be ignorant of the nature of the patient.” It stresses that a doctor must know the individual patient, not only the disease.

Who said “Neque ignorare medicum oportet quae sit aegri natura”?

The Roman medical writer Celsus, in the preface to his De medicina (first century AD). His text reads neque ignorare hunc oportet, quae sit aegri natura, and the version here names the physician as medicum.

How do you pronounce “Neque ignorare medicum oportet”?

Classical: NEH-kweh ig-noh-RAH-reh MEH-dee-koom oh-POR-tet. In Church Latin, gn in ignorare sounds like ny: ee-nyoh-RAH-reh.

Is “Neque ignorare medicum oportet quae sit aegri natura” correct Latin for a plaque?

Yes. The grammar is sound: an accusative and infinitive after oportet, and a subjunctive in the indirect question. You can credit it as adapted from Celsus.

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