NeoLatin

Neo-Latin, also called New Latin, is the form of Latin written from the Renaissance onward and used as a vehicle for new scientific, philosophical, literary, and scholarly work. It arose from the humanist revival of classical Latin and became the lingua franca of European scholarship, especially from the 16th to the 18th centuries, extending in certain fields and regions into the 19th and even 20th centuries.

Neo-Latin encompassed a wide range of styles, from polished, Ciceronian prose to more ornate Baroque Latin. Its vocabulary expanded with borrowings from vernacular languages and with newly coined terms to express contemporary concepts in science, religion, law, and the arts. It produced original works and translations alike, enabling cross-border communication among scholars across Europe and beyond. Notable domains included astronomy, natural philosophy, medicine, jurisprudence, and theology, with works such as Copernicus’s De revolutionibus and Newton’s Latin writings illustrating its international reach.

Although gradually displaced by national languages in most public life, Neo-Latin retained a central role in academia and science for centuries. Latin continues to be used in taxonomy and some religious contexts, and in modern times a community of scholars and writers maintains Neo-Latin through journals, conferences, and online projects. The study of Neo-Latin today treats it as a distinct literary and historical phenomenon, reflecting how Latin adapted to new ideas while preserving continuity with classical Latin tradition.