The Nation's First Motto Was E Pluribus Unum. What Does That Mean? Civics Question 124

It means out of many, one.

Question 124 gives you the Nation’s first motto, E Pluribus Unum, and asks what it means. Two answers are accepted: “out of many, one,” and “we all become one.” Say one of them. The phrase is Latin, and you are not asked to pronounce it.

What the Motto Means

The words are Latin. E means out of. Pluribus means many. Unum means one. Put together, out of many, one.

The many were the states. Thirteen separate colonies, each with its own government and its own habits, agreed to become a single country. The motto describes that act.

The phrase carries a second meaning that grew over time. People arrive in the United States from many countries and become one people. That is the sense behind the other accepted answer, “we all become one.”

You can still find the motto on U.S. coins and on the Great Seal of the United States.

Why the Officer Asks This

The question calls E Pluribus Unum the first motto because Congress later adopted a different national motto, “In God We Trust.” The older phrase stayed on the coins and the seal.

For an applicant, the meaning lands close to home. Naturalization is the act the motto describes: many origins, one country. The officer is asking for a translation, and the idea behind it is the reason it is on the test.

How to Remember E Pluribus Unum

English words are hiding inside the Latin ones.

• Pluribus holds plural, and plural means more than one. Many.
• Unum holds unit and unite, and both mean one thing joined together. One.

Many, then one. Out of many, one.

If you carry U.S. coins, use them. The phrase is printed there, and every time you see it you can say the four English words back.

Common Ways People Get This Wrong

Some applicants try to translate word by word out loud and end up with “out of many is one country” or something longer. The accepted answers are short, and a longer sentence gives you more to trip over.

Others answer with the current motto, “In God We Trust.” That is a real motto, and it is not what this question asks for.

What to Say on Test Day

Say “out of many, one.” Then stop.

You do not need the Latin, the coins, the seal, or the second motto. Four words answer this question.