novus ordo seclorum
[noh-woo s ohr-doh se-kloh-roo m; English noh-vuh s awr-doh se-klawr-uh m, -klohr-]
- a new order of the ages (is born): motto on the reverse of the great seal of the United States (adapted from Vergil's Eclogues IV:5).
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Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Word Origin and History for novus ordo seclorum
Novus Ordo Seclorum
on the Great Seal of the United States of America, apparently an allusion to line 5 of Virgil's "Eclogue IV," in an 18c. edition: Magnus ab integro seclorum nascitur ordo "The great series of ages begins anew." The seal's designer, Charles Thomson, wrote that the words "signify the beginnings of the New American Era." (see Annuit Coeptis).
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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper