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ETTU (ay-TOO)

Latin for: “And even you?”
Common clues: “____, Brute?”; Famous last words; Ides of March rebuke;
Caesar's accusation; Caesar's last question; Words to an infamous traitor
Crossword puzzle frequency: 7 times a year
Frequency in English language: 37938 / 86800
Video:
Monty Python – Life of Brian


I love the name of honor, more than I fear death ~ Julius Caesar


"Et tu, Brute?" were, according to legend, the last words of Julius Caesar, Roman dictator, author and general. Translated to English it reads "And (even) you Brutus?" (Brute is two syllables long, and is an example of the vocative case).



Murder of Caesar by Karl Theodore van Piloty


Julius Caesar was stabbed in the back by an angry group of senators, led by Marcus Junius Brutus, Caesar's great friend and senator. Caesar initially resisted his attackers, but when he saw Brutus, he spoke those words and resigned himself to his fate.


Caesar almost certainly did not actually say these exact words. Ancient sources report that he either died wordlessly, or said "And (even) you, my son?" The Latin version was made famous by Shakespeare who used them in his Julius Caesar.


People often cite this quotation when they feel they have been betrayed. This is normally done tongue-in-cheek, and the name Brute replaced with something more appropriate (or humorous), e.g. "Et tu, Slashdot?" "Et tu, Bigbird?" etc.



This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Et tu Brute”.