Odit verus amor nec patitur moras
“True love hates and does not tolerate delay.”
Seneca, Hercules Furens 588
What does “Odit verus amor nec patitur moras” mean?
Odit verus amor nec patitur moras translates as “True love hates and does not tolerate delay.”
Real love is impatient to act and to be with the beloved. It is a reminder not to postpone saying or showing what you feel.
“Odit verus amor nec patitur moras” word by word
| Latin | English | Grammar |
|---|---|---|
| Odit | hates | third person singular present active indicative of odi, “I hate” (a perfect-form verb with present meaning) |
| verus | true | nominative singular masculine adjective, agrees with amor; from verus, -a, -um |
| amor | love | nominative singular masculine noun, subject of the sentence; from amor, “love” |
| nec | and not | conjunction joining two verbs with a negative: “and does not” |
| patitur | tolerates | third person singular present indicative of patior, “I suffer, endure” (a deponent verb: passive form, active meaning) |
| moras | delays | accusative plural feminine noun, object of patitur; from mora, “delay” |
How to pronounce “Odit verus amor nec patitur moras”
The two systems differ only in the v of verus, which is w in Classical and v in Church Latin. Stress falls on the first syllable of odit, verus, amor and moras, and on the second-to-last-but-one, PA, of patitur.
The story behind it
Word for word the line says “true love hates, and does not tolerate, delays”. The verb odit is the one that surprises English readers: love is the subject, and it “hates” whatever holds it back.
It comes from Seneca’s tragedy Hercules Furens, in a choral song that retells the myth of Orpheus going down to the underworld to win back his wife Eurydice. Seneca, the Roman Stoic philosopher and playwright of the first century AD, wrote tragedies built on Greek myths.
Read apart from the play, the line has become a short, quotable statement that real love does not wait around. That is why it turns up on proposal cards, love letters and engraved gifts.
How to use “Odit verus amor nec patitur moras”
It suits a proposal card, a long-distance love letter or an anniversary message, wherever you want to say that you cannot wait to be with someone. It also works as a gentle nudge to say what you feel instead of putting it off.
- Latin
- Odit verus amor nec patitur moras
- English
- True love hates and does not tolerate delay.
- Source
- Seneca, Hercules Furens 588
- Era
- Classical
- Theme
- Love
Common mistakes
- Odit means “hates”, not “loves”. Some people misread the first word and get the sense backwards.
- The line does not mean love is hateful. Love is the one doing the hating, and what it hates is delay.
- Moras is plural, “delays”. Many translations render it as the singular “delay”, which is natural English but not word-for-word.
- Do not change verus to vera to suit a feminine subject. Amor is masculine in Latin, so verus is correct as written.
Questions about “Odit verus amor nec patitur moras”
What does “Odit verus amor nec patitur moras” mean literally?
“True love hates and does not tolerate delays.” Odit is “hates”, and moras is the plural “delays”.
Who said “Odit verus amor nec patitur moras”?
It comes from Seneca’s tragedy Hercules Furens, line 588, in a choral song about Orpheus and Eurydice.
How do you pronounce “Odit verus amor nec patitur moras”?
In Classical Latin: OH-dit WEH-roos AH-mor nek PAH-tih-toor MOH-rahs. In Church Latin the only change is the v of verus, said as v.
Is “Odit verus amor nec patitur moras” correct Latin for a tattoo or card?
Yes, the Latin is correct as Seneca wrote it. Keep it exactly as written, because changing endings to fit a different subject would break the grammar.
More to explore
Translation and grammar checked by Latin Quoter · last reviewed November 2026
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