barba tenus sapiens

Latin[edit]

From barbā (“beard”, abl.sg.) + tenus (“as far as”, postp.) sapiēns (“discerning, wise”, adj.), i.e. 'wise only as far as the beard, merely cultivating an appearance of wisdom'. From Erasmus' Adagia, translating Ancient Greek ἐκ πώγονος σοφοί, καὶ ἀπὸ πώγονος φιλόσοφοι (ek pṓgonos sophoí, kaì apò pṓgonos philósophoi), part of a rich earlier tradition of similar sayings in reference to the beard conferring the image of a philosopher, specifically a Stoic one. Cf. sapientem pāscere barbam (“to grow a beard of wisdom”) (Horace), barba nōn facit philosophum (“a beard doesn't make you a philosopher”).

(Classical) IPA^(key): /barˈbaː.te.nus ˈsa.pi.ens/, [bärˈbäːt̪ɛnʊs̠ ˈs̠äpiẽːs̠]
(modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /ˈbar.ba ˈte.nus ˈsa.pi.ens/, [ˈbärbä ˈt̪ɛːnus ˈsäːpiens]

barbā tenus sapiēns m or f (genitive barbā tenus sapientis); third declension