mutatis mutandis

English

Alternative forms

• m.m., mut. mut., mut. mutand., mut. mutandis, mutat. mutand., mutat. mutandis (abbreviations)
• mutatis mandis, mutatis mundi, mutis mundis, mutis mutandis (nonstandard contractions)

Etymology

Unadapted borrowing from Late Latin mūtātīs mūtandīs (“with [the things] to be changed having been changed”).

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /m(j)uːˌtɑːtɪs muːˈtandɪs/
• (US) IPA^(key): /m(j)uˌtɑtəs m(j)uˈtɑndəs/, /mjuˌteɪtəs mjuˈtændəs/

• Audio (US):

  (file)

Adverb

mutatis mutandis (not comparable)

1. (especially law) With the necessary changes being made; with the necessary modifications; with such changes as are necessary to ensure congruence.
   • a. 1525, The Coventry Leet Book, page 595:

     And like billes, mutatis mutandis, were put In ayenst Gloucestre & Worcestre

   • 1863, H.M.'s Public Record Office, Calendar of State Papers, Foreign Series, of the Reign of Elizabeth, volume VII, page 141:

     26 May 1564. M. to Mr. Tipton, and another (mutatis mutandis) to Mr. Cuerton. Pp. 3.

   • 1962, Samuel Edward Finer, chapter 2, in The Man on Horseback: The Role of the Military in Politics:

     What is said of the army here is to be taken also to apply, mutatis mutandis, to the air force and the navy.

   • 1962, Norman Malcolm, chapter 15, in Dreaming:

     Similar considerations apply, mutatis mutandis, to the example of nightmare imagined by Brown.

Usage notes

• Typically treated as an unnaturalized Latin phrase and italicized. Now usually treated as a parenthetical phrase set off inside commas.
• Even in academic work, the term has been increasingly uncommon in English since the 1950s. However, it is still seen occasionally in journalism.
• Usually used when describing similarities between two cases to make allowances for the obvious differences between them (see examples above), or to allow a legislative or contractual provision to be applied in similar but different circumstances.

Related terms

• mutandum
• mutate
• mutation
• mutatio nomine

Translations

having changed what needs to be changed

• Catalan: mutatis mutandis (ca)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 經必要的變更 / 经必要的变更 (jīng bìyào de biàngēng)

• Dutch: mutatis mutandis
• Estonian: mutatis mutandis (et)
• Finnish: mutatis mutandis (fi), soveltuvin osin, vastaavalla tavalla, vastaavasti (fi), muutettavat muuttaen
• French: mutatis mutandis (fr), toutes proportions gardées (fr), toute proportion gardée (fr)
• German: mutatis mutandis (de)
• Greek: τηρουμένων των αναλογιών (el) (tirouménon ton analogión)
• Icelandic: að breyttu breytanda
• Indonesian: dengan penyesuaian seperlunya
• Italian: mutatis mutandis, fatti i debiti mutamenti, con le opportune differenze
• Japanese: ^{(please verify)} 変更すべきは変更して (へんこうすべきはへんこうして, henkō subeki wa henkō shite), 準用して (ja) (じゅんようして, jun'yō shite)
• Polish: mutatis mutandis (pl), toutes proportions gardées (pl)
• Portuguese: mutatis mutandis (pt)
• Russian: с необходи́мыми измене́ниями (s neobxodímymi izmenénijami)
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: мутатис мутандис

  Roman: mutatis mutandis (sh)

Finnish

Etymology

Borrowed from Late Latin mūtātīs mūtandīs (“with [the things] to be changed having been changed”). For more information, see the English entry.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈmuːtɑːtːis ˈmuːtɑndis/, [ˈmuːt̪ɑ̝ːt̪ːis̠ ˈmuːt̪ɑ̝ndis̠]

Adverb

mutatis mutandis

1. (law) mutatis mutandis (having changed what needs to be changed)

   Synonyms: (somewhat literal translation of mutatis mutandis) muutettavat muuttaen, soveltuvin osin, vastaavalla tavalla, vastaavasti

   Unionin kansalaisten karkottamista vastaan saaman suojan järjestelmää ei voida soveltaa mutatis mutandis Turkin kansalaisiin.

   The scheme of protection against expulsion conferred on citizens of the Union cannot be applied mutatis mutandis to Turkish nationals.

French

Etymology

Borrowed from Late Latin mūtātīs mūtandīs (“with [the things] to be changed having been changed”). For more information, see the English entry.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /my.ta.tis my.tɑ̃.dis/
• Rhymes: -is

Adverb

mutatis mutandis

1. (law) mutatis mutandis (having changed what needs to be changed)

   Synonyms: toutes proportions gardées, toute proportion gardée

Further reading

• “mutatis mutandis”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.

Indonesian

Etymology

Unadapted borrowing from Late Latin mūtātīs mūtandīs (“with [the things] to be changed having been changed”).

Adjective

mutatis mutandis (not comparable)

1. mutatis mutandis (having changed what needs to be changed)

Further reading

• “mutatis mutandis” in Kamus Besar Bahasa Indonesia, Jakarta: Agency for Language Development and Cultivation – Ministry of Education, Culture, Research, and Technology of the Republic of Indonesia, 2016.

Italian

Etymology

Unadapted borrowing from Late Latin mūtātīs mūtandīs (“with [the things] to be changed having been changed”). For more information, see the English entry.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /muˈta.tis muˈtan.dis/, /muˈta.tiz muˈtan.dis/
• Hyphenation: mu‧tà‧tis‧mu‧tàn‧dis

Adverb

mutatis mutandis

1. mutatis mutandis (having changed what needs to be changed)

   Synonyms: fatti i debiti cambiamenti, con le opportune differenze

Related terms

• mutamento
• mutande
• mutare
• mutazione

Latin

Etymology

Literally “with [the things] to be changed having been changed”. Of late derivation: earliest appearance in British Latin, 1272.

Pronunciation

• (Classical Latin) IPA^(key): [muːˈtaː.tiːs muːˈtan.diːs]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): [muˈt̪aː.t̪is muˈt̪an̪.d̪is]

Adverb

mūtātīs mūtandīs (not comparable)

1. (Late Latin) mutatis mutandis (having changed what needs to be changed)

This entry needs quotations to illustrate usage. If you come across any interesting, durably archived quotes then please add them! Particularly: “from 1272”

Usage notes

• An ablative absolute: an ablative construction formed with the future passive participle to indicate necessity or obligation.

Spanish

Etymology

Borrowed from Late Latin mūtātīs mūtandīs (“with [the things] to be changed having been changed”). For more information, see the English entry.

Adverb

mutatis mutandis

1. mutatis mutandis (having changed what needs to be changed)

Further reading

• “mutatis mutandis”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.8, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 2024 December 10

Swedish

Etymology

Learned borrowing from Late Latin mūtātīs mūtandīs. First attested in 1765.

Adverb

mutatis mutandis

1. mutatis mutandis (having changed what needs to be changed)
   • 1765 February 16, N. N., “Autors ſwar på Critiken uti N:o 5 [The Author’s Anſwer to the Criticiſm in No. 5]”, in Norrköpings Tidningar, page 4:

     Oͤfrigt kan man betjena ſig af et Concept til flera Perſoner, allenaſt må^? obſerverar Titlarna och de oͤfriga mutanda. Såſom til exempel, j framhaͤrdar, foͤrblifwer, lefwer, aͤr mutatis mutandis

     Moreover, one may avail oneſelf of a ſingle Concept with divers Perſons; only muſt one obſerve the Titles and the reſt of the proper alterations: as, for example, “I ſtrive,” “remains,” “lives,” “is,” mutatis mutandis

   • 1833 January 22, “Kaleidoskop”, in Aftonbladet‎^[1], pages 3–4:

     Bristande utrymme hindrar oss att vara utförliga angående den förra; men vi bedja läsaren att i någon tidning slå upp hvilken Musikrecension som helst, der det talas om ett lysande föredrag på violinen, en behaglig stråke, en ren och stark ton, en utomordentlig färdighet i de svåraste passager, ett mästerligt staccato m. m. och vi hoppas att allt detta kan gälla om Hr Wexschals talang, äfvensom mutatis mutandis om Hr Petersens färdighet på flöjten.

     Lack of space prevents us from being at length concerning the former; but we ask the reader to look up in any newspaper any Music Review in which there is talk of a brilliant performance on the violin, a pleasing bow, a pure and strong tone, an extraordinary skill in the most difficult passages, a masterful staccato, etc. and we hope that all this can apply to Mr. Wexschal's talent, also mutatis mutandis to Mr. Petersen's skill on the flute.

   • 1882, Johannes Alfthan, Den förmodade nihilisten‎^[2], page 62:

     Danilo Wielsky, mutatis mutandis, med ändring af hvad ändras bör, är, den dag som är, bosatt i Sverige, ehuru under ett annat namn, och framlefver, såvidt kändt blifvit, ett stilla och fridsamt lif såsom välbestäld handlande.

     Danilo Wielsky, mutatis mutandis, with the change of what should be changed, is, as of today, resident in Sweden, albeit under a different name, and lives, as far as is known, a quiet and peaceful life with well-off behaviour.

   • 2016 October 6, Pia Ingström, “Nu kan ni ge Nobelpriset åt Ferrante! [Now you can give the Nobel Prize to Ferrante!]”, in Hufvudstadsbladet:

     Men knappast. Vi spanar över det mörknande Europa: Polska Olga Tokarczuk (f. 1962) är en av mina mångåriga favoriter, med romaner som bekämpar historieförfalskning och politiskt motiverad glömska i ett allt skummare Polen. Samma gäller, mutatis mutandis, ungraren Laszlo Krasznahorkai (f. 1954), utanför sitt hemland kanske mest känd för sina manus till landsmannen Bela Tarrs filmer.

     But hardly. We cast our eyes over a darkening Europe: the Polish writer Olga Tokarczuk (b. 1962) has been one of my long-standing favourites, with novels that combat historical falsification and politically motivated forgetting in an increasingly murky Poland. The same applies, mutatis mutandis, to the Hungarian writer László Krasznahorkai (b. 1954), perhaps best known outside his homeland for his screenplays for fellow Hungarian Béla Tarr's films.

   • 2018 October 2, Carl Rudbeck, “Rambo eller Rimbaud [Rambo or Rimbaud]”, in Svenska Dagbladet:

     Opera används här bara som exempel och kan, mutatis mutandis, ersättas med centrallyrik, experimentfilm eller elektronmusik

     Opera is used here only as an example and can, mutatis mutandis, be replaced by core lyric, experimental film or electronic music.