Meanings
alternative humorous carpe the diem
- Enjoy the present, make the most of today, (common mistranslation) seize the day.
Just grab those opportunities when you see 'em / Cause every day's a brand new day, you gotta carpe diem
2011 January 29, “Rollercoaster: The Musical!” (“Carpe Diem” (song)), in Phineas and Ferb, season 2, episode 382 more examples
It is the carpe diem religion; but the carpe diem religion is not the religion of happy people, but of very unhappy people.
1905, G. K. Chesterton, Heretics, New York: John Lane, →OLIndeed, in an extreme carpe diem society, children are raised without being given any sense that they have a transgenerational duty to the as yet unborn— the duty to leave them a better world.
2007 July 30, Lee Harris, “Can Carpe Diem Societies Survive?”, in The Suicide of Reason: Radical Islam's Threat to the West, New York: Basic Books, →ISBN, →LCCN, →OL, page 241Synonyms: gather rosebuds, take the cash and let the credit go
Synonyms & antonyms
proverbEnjoy the present, make the most of today, (common mistranslation) seize the day.
Origin
- Latincarpe diem“enjoy the day”
- Englishcarpe diem
Learned borrowing from Latin carpe diem (“enjoy the day”, literally “pluck (or harvest) the day”).
More words from Latin
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Bulgarian живей за мига
- живей за мига (živej za miga)seize the day
Chinese Mandarin 及時行樂 /及时行乐, 把握今朝
- 及時行樂 /及时行乐 (jíshíxínglè)seize the day
- 把握今朝 (bǎ wò jīnzhāo)seize the day
- 花開堪折直須折 /花开堪折直须折 (huā kāi kān zhé zhí xū zhé)seize the day
Danish fang dagen
- fang dagenseize the day
Dutch pluk de dag
- pluk de dagseize the day
Finnish tartu hetkeen
- tartu hetkeenseize the day
French cueille le jour, carpe diem
- cueille le jourseize the day
- carpe diemseize the day
German nutze den Tag
- nutze den Tagseize the day
Greek άδραξε τη μέρα
- άδραξε τη μέρα (ádraxe ti méra)seize the day
Hebrew קרפה דיים
- קרפה דייםseize the day
Indonesian raih hari ini
- raih hari iniseize the day
Irish tapaidh go dheis
- tapaidh go dheisseize the day
Italian cogli l'attimo, vivere alla giornata
- cogli l'attimoseize the day
- vivere alla giornataseize the day
Japanese この日を掴め, 今日を楽しめ
- この日を掴め (kono hi o tsukame)seize the day
- 今日を楽しめ (kyou o tanoshime)seize the day
Norwegian grip dagen
- grip dagenseize the day
Persian دمغنیمتشمری, خوشباشی
- دمغنیمتشمریseize the day
- خوشباشیseize the day
Polish chwytaj dzień
- chwytaj dzieńseize the day
Portuguese carpe diem
- carpe diemseize the day
Russian лови́ моме́нт
- лови́ моме́нт (loví momént)seize the day
Scottish Gaelic dèan feum de latha chothroim
- dèan feum de latha chothroimseize the day
Spanish disfruta el momento, carpe diem
- disfruta el momentoseize the day
- carpe diemseize the day
Swedish fånga dagen
- fånga dagenseize the day
Turkish günü yakala, anı yaşa
- günü yakalaseize the day
- anı yaşaseize the day
- günü yaşaseize the day
- gündegünseize the day
Cite this entry
carpe diem. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 5, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/carpe%20diem
“carpe diem.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/carpe%20diem. Accessed November 5, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “carpe diem,” accessed November 5, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/carpe%20diem.
Source: carpe diem on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.