Using Italics with Latin for Translators: An Overview

As a translator, have you ever run across Latin phrases in the source text, then wondered “Do I translate this and, if not, do I italicize it?”

Based on my research, I’ll outline the rule to follow with specific examples.

I’ve been a translator for over 6 years. In that time, I’ve run into the above problem dozens of times. I needed to establish a baseline for myself, so trust me, this blog post serves myself as well as other new and long-time translators.

Which Latin terms are translated and which remain in Latin?

The general rule is that if it’s a long-established loan phrase (think centuries), don’t italicize; but you can if the author’s intention is to make it stand out for some reason (think literature or a context where the condition is emphasized).
*Good brief explanation here.

Common examples I've seen in medical documents

Et seq. - not italicized, specifically because it’s an abbreviation - An abbreviation for the Latin et sequentes or et sequentia, meaning "and the following.”

De facto - not italicized - It refers to what happens in practice.

​A priori/a posteriori - not italicized - A way to distinguish between empirical and nonempirical knowledge. These phrases have to do with how a situation might be known. Is it something known independent of experience or based on experience?

In vitro/ex vivo - not italicized - without going into too deep of an explanation, here’s how I’d summarize it. It refers to whether or not an experiment or procedure, or even an event, takes place within a living organism in its normal, intact state or outside of the living organism in a laboratory apparatus.