mutatis mutandis

adverb

mu·​ta·​tis mu·​tan·​dis m(y)ü-ˈtä-təs-m(y)ü-ˈtän-dəs 

-ˈtā-təs-,

-ˈtan- 

1

: with the necessary changes having been made

2

: with the respective differences having been considered

Did you know?

Unlike most English terms with Latin parentage, mutatis mutandis (which translates literally as "things having been changed that have to be changed") maintains its Latinate aspect entirely. It doesn't look like an English phrase, which is perhaps why it remains rather uncommon despite having functioned in English since the 16th century. Although the phrase is used in the specialized fields of law, philosophy, and economics when analogous situations are discussed, it appears in other contexts, too, where analogy occurs, as this quote from Henry James' The American demonstrates: "Roderick made an admirable bust of her at the beginning of the winter, and a dozen women came rushing to him to be done, mutatis mutandis, in the same style."

Examples of mutatis mutandis in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Does this story remind you, mutatis mutandis, of those earlier Yale Law School classmates, Hillary Rodham and Bill Clinton? —Neal B. Freeman, National Review, 26 July 2024

Who else would drop the phrase mutatis mutandis into an FBI interview? —Neal B. Freeman, National Review, 10 Feb. 2023

That sentence, mutatis mutandis, could have been written about India, where Islamic invasions and British rule still produced an anxiety about authenticity — what was one’s own, what had come from outside. —New York Times, 11 Nov. 2021

Word History

Etymology

Middle English, from Medieval Latin

First Known Use

circa 1525, in the meaning defined at sense 1

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