Sola cogitatio furti faciendi non facit furem
“The mere thought of committing theft does not make a thief.”
Legal maxim (Roman law)
What does “Sola cogitatio furti faciendi non facit furem” mean?
Sola cogitatio furti faciendi non facit furem translates as “The mere thought of committing theft does not make a thief.”
The law punishes acts, not bare intentions. A person becomes a thief only by doing something, not just by thinking about it.
“Sola cogitatio furti faciendi non facit furem” word by word
| Latin | English | Grammar |
|---|---|---|
| Sola | mere, alone | nominative singular feminine of solus, “alone, only”; agrees with cogitatio |
| cogitatio | thought | nominative singular of cogitatio, “thinking, thought”; the subject of the sentence |
| furti | of theft | genitive singular of furtum, “theft”; depends on faciendi |
| faciendi | of committing | genitive singular of the gerundive of facio, “I do, I make”; agrees with furti, so “of theft to be committed” |
| non | not | adverb of negation |
| facit | makes | third person singular present indicative active of facio, “I make” |
| furem | a thief | accusative singular of fur, “thief”; the object of facit |
How to pronounce “Sola cogitatio furti faciendi non facit furem”
The two differ in c and g before e and i (facit, cogitatio, faciendi) and in ti before a vowel, which becomes tsee in the church version. The stress falls on the second-to-last syllable of cogitatio and faciendi.
The story behind it
Word for word the maxim says “the sole thought of theft to be committed does not make a thief”. The grammar is compact: a noun, a gerundive phrase and a short verb clause.
It is a legal maxim with roots in Roman law on theft (furtum), which treated theft as a wrongful act of taking. Medieval and later jurists in the European legal tradition repeated it as a rule of thumb that bare intention is not a crime.
It is still cited today in teaching criminal law. It is often paired with the idea that an act and a guilty mind are both needed for a crime, and it helps explain where mere intention ends and a punishable attempt begins.
How to use “Sola cogitatio furti faciendi non facit furem”
Best suited to a criminal-law class, an essay on intention versus attempt, or a debate about thought and punishment. It is too technical for most mottos or captions.
- Latin
- Sola cogitatio furti faciendi non facit furem
- English
- The mere thought of committing theft does not make a thief.
- Source
- Legal maxim (Roman law)
- Era
- Legal Latin
- Theme
- Law
Common mistakes
- It does not say intention is irrelevant to the law. It says intention alone, with no act, does not make someone a thief.
- Furti faciendi is a genitive gerundive phrase, so do not change faciendi to a plain faciens or a different ending without rebuilding the phrase.
- It is a legal maxim, not a line from a classical author, so do not attribute it to Cicero or any other single writer.
Questions about “Sola cogitatio furti faciendi non facit furem”
What does “Sola cogitatio furti faciendi non facit furem” mean literally?
“The sole thought of theft to be committed does not make a thief.” In plain English: merely thinking about stealing does not make you a thief.
Who said “Sola cogitatio furti faciendi non facit furem”?
No single author is known. It is a legal maxim that comes out of Roman law and was passed down through the European legal tradition.
How do you pronounce “Sola cogitatio furti faciendi non facit furem”?
In classical Latin: SOH-lah ko-gee-TAH-tee-oh FOOR-tee fah-kee-EN-dee non FAH-kit FOO-rem. The church version softens the c and g before e and i.
Does this maxim mean thoughts are never punished?
In this principle, yes: a person is not guilty of theft for a bare thought. The law looks for an act, and an attempt can be punished once the person starts to carry out the plan.
More to explore
Translation and grammar checked by Latin Quoter · last reviewed November 2026
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