Amor nummi
“Love of money.”
Juvenal, Satires 14.139
What does “Amor nummi” mean?
Amor nummi translates as “Love of money.”
Greed – the desire for money that grows the more you have.
“Amor nummi” word by word
| Latin | English | Grammar |
|---|---|---|
| Amor | love | nominative singular masculine of amor, “love, desire”; the subject of the phrase |
| nummi | of money | genitive singular of nummus, “coin, money”; the genitive says what the love is directed at (an objective genitive) |
How to pronounce “Amor nummi”
Both pronunciations sound the same here. Stress the first syllable of both words. The double m in nummi is held slightly longer in careful Classical speech.
The story behind it
Word for word the phrase says “love of money”. It is a fragment of a longer line in Juvenal’s Satires, where he describes how greed grows alongside wealth: crescit amor nummi quantum ipsa pecunia crevit.
Juvenal was a Roman satirist writing around the turn of the 1st and 2nd centuries AD. Satire 14 deals with parents who pass their vices on to their children, and avarice is one of the vices he picks out.
The thought is not unique to Juvenal. Roman and Greek moralists often warned that money does not satisfy desire but feeds it, and the same idea turns up in later Christian warnings against avarice.
How to use “Amor nummi”
Suits an essay or speech on greed and consumerism, a satirical caption about wealth, or a desk reminder to watch your own ambition. As a tattoo it is a pointed, rather cynical choice that most people would read as a warning rather than a boast.
- Latin
- Amor nummi
- English
- Love of money.
- Source
- Juvenal, Satires 14.139
- Era
- Antiquity
- Theme
- Wisdom
Common mistakes
- Amor nummi is the opening of Juvenal’s line, not a full sentence. It names the subject, and the verb crescit (“grows”) comes from the longer quotation.
- Nummi is genitive singular, “of money”. The nominative is nummus, and the plural genitive is nummorum, so do not swap the ending when adapting the phrase.
- The phrase is not a famous ancient slogan in this exact two-word form. The Latin is Juvenal’s, but the short version is a modern excerpt.
- Do not confuse it with the Biblical “radix omnium malorum est cupiditas” (“the root of all evils is greed”, 1 Timothy 6:10). That is a different source and a different wording.
Questions about “Amor nummi”
What does “Amor nummi” mean literally?
“Love of money”, with amor as “love” and nummi as “of money” or “of coin”.
Who said “Amor nummi”?
The Roman satirist Juvenal, in Satires 14.139, in the line “crescit amor nummi quantum ipsa pecunia crevit”.
How do you pronounce “Amor nummi”?
Classical: AH-mor NOOM-mee. Church Latin sounds the same. Stress the first syllable of each word.
Is “Amor nummi” good Latin for a tattoo?
Yes, it is correct Latin and taken from a real source. Be aware that it names greed, so most people will read it as a critique of money-love rather than a celebration of it.
More to explore
Translation and grammar checked by Latin Quoter · last reviewed November 2026
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