noli me tangere

Meanings

1. A picture depicting Jesus appearing to Mary Magdalene shortly after his resurrection from the dead (see the etymology).
2. A warning to avoid or not to interfere.
3. Someone (such as a disagreeable person) or something (such as a painful experience or taboo topic) to be avoided or not interfered with.
4. Any of various plants with fruits or seed capsules that, when ripe, burst open and discharge their seeds when touched, or with leaves that fold and droop when touched.
5. Some plants of the genus Impatiens; specifically, the touch-me-not balsam or yellow balsam (Impatiens noli-tangere).
6. The squirting cucumber (Ecballium elaterium).
7. The sensitive plant (Mimosa pudica), the leaves of which fold inwards and droop when shaken or touched.
8. Any of various diseases causing ulcers of the skin and underlying tissues, especially of the face; many of these diseases are now thought to be due to basal cell carcinoma or squamous cell carcinoma.

Etymology

PIE word *né From Middle English noli me tangere, noly me tangere (“skin disease of the face; bad-tempered person who should be avoided; personification of wrath”), a learned borrowing from Late Latin nōlī mē tangere (literally “do not touch me”), from Latin nōlī (“do not”) + mē (“me, myself”) + tangere (the present active infinitive of tangō (“to grasp; to touch”)). The phrase is recorded in John 20:17 of the Vulgate, a 4th-century Latin translation of the Bible, as having been spoken to Mary Magdalene by Jesus shortly after his resurrection outside his tomb. The original phrase was the Koine Greek μή μου ἅπτου (mḗ mou háptou, “stop clinging to me”). Senses 2–5 refer to the literal meaning of the phrase. For example, in the case of sense 4 (“any of various plants with fruits or seed capsules that, when ripe, burst open and discharge their seeds when touched, or with leaves that fold and droop when touched”), the name alludes to the assumption that the plants do not wish to be touched, and react by exploding their fruits or closing their leaves if this happens.

Translations