Nigro notanda lapillo
“To be marked with a black pebble.”
Latin expression
What does “Nigro notanda lapillo” mean?
Nigro notanda lapillo translates as “To be marked with a black pebble.”
It describes an unlucky or sad day, one worth remembering only as a bad one. The opposite is a day marked with a white stone.
“Nigro notanda lapillo” word by word
| Latin | English | Grammar |
|---|---|---|
| Nigro | with a black | ablative singular masculine of niger, nigra, nigrum, “black”; agrees with lapillo |
| notanda | to be marked | nominative singular feminine of the gerundive notandus, -a, -um (from noto, “I mark”); it implies “must be marked”. The feminine suggests it agrees with a noun such as dies, “day”, left unstated |
| lapillo | pebble | ablative singular masculine of lapillus, “small stone, pebble”; the ablative shows the means of marking |
How to pronounce “Nigro notanda lapillo”
The two differ only in the i of nigro, short in Classical and Italianate in Church Latin, and in the double l of lapillo, which is held a little longer in Classical speech. The stress falls on the first syllable of nigro, the second of notanda and the second of lapillo.
The story behind it
Word for word the phrase says “to be marked with a small black stone”. The adjective and noun are in the ablative, the case of means, and notanda is a gerundive, so the thought is “this day must be marked”, with the noun dies, “day”, understood.
The image rests on a Roman habit of using white and dark stones or marks to record good and bad days. Latin poets such as Catullus refer to this custom, and the pairing of a white stone for a happy day with a black one for an unlucky day became a stock figure in Latin.
The wording is the standard idiom and is not tied to one famous line. Today it is a literary way to say that a day was a bad one, and its opposite, the day marked with a white stone, is the more familiar expression.
How to use “Nigro notanda lapillo”
A dry caption for a journal page, a diary entry or a social post about a day when everything went wrong. It also suits a witty line in an essay on luck, bad fortune or memory.
- Latin
- Nigro notanda lapillo
- English
- To be marked with a black pebble.
- Source
- Latin expression
- Era
- Classical
- Theme
- Fortune
Common mistakes
- The word is lapillo, “pebble”, not lapis, “stone”. Changing it alters the form and the rhythm.
- Notanda is feminine because it points to an unstated dies. For a masculine noun the form would be notandus, so do not change the endings without checking what they agree with.
- It marks a bad day, so do not use it as praise. The happy counterpart is a day marked with a white stone, not a black one.
- Dropping the ablative and writing nigrum lapillum changes the grammar and the idiom.
Questions about “Nigro notanda lapillo”
What does “Nigro notanda lapillo” mean literally?
“To be marked with a black pebble”. It means a day that deserves to be noted as an unlucky one.
Who said “Nigro notanda lapillo”?
It is a Latin expression of the classical period with no single famous author. The custom behind it is mentioned by poets such as Catullus.
How do you pronounce “Nigro notanda lapillo”?
In Classical Latin it is NIG-roh noh-TAHN-dah lah-PIL-loh. In Church Latin the first word becomes NEE-groh and the last lah-PEEL-loh.
Is “Nigro notanda lapillo” good Latin for a tattoo?
The grammar is sound, but the meaning is a bad day, which is an unusual choice for a tattoo. It suits someone who wants an ironic or wry comment on bad luck.
More to explore
Translation and grammar checked by Latin Quoter · last reviewed November 2026
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