Rome wasn't built in a day

English

WOTD – 21 April 2024

Etymology

Probably a calque of Middle French Rome ne fut pas faite toute en un jour (literally “Rome was not made all in one day”); compare modern French Rome ne s’est pas faite en un jour.

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈɹəʊm ˌwɒzənt ˈbɪlt‿ɪn‿ə ˈdeɪ/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˈɹoʊm ˌwʌzənt ˈbɪlt‿ɪn‿ə ˈdeɪ/

• Audio (General American):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -eɪ
• Hyphenation: Rome was‧n’t built in a day

Proverb

Rome wasn't built in a day

1. (idiomatic) It takes a long time to create something complicated or impressive.

   Antonym: Rome wasn't burned in a day

   I know this project is a big undertaking, but you need to have patience and be hopeful. Remember that Rome wasn’t built in a day.

   • 1545 August 20 (Gregorian calendar), Erasmus, “Vna hirundo non facit ver [One swallow does not make it spring]”, in Richard Taverner, transl., Proverbes or Adagies Gathered out of the Chiliades of Erasmus […], new edition, London: Edwardus Whytchurche […]; to be sel […] by Wyllyam Telotson, →OCLC, folio xxv, verso:

     [O]ne daye or lytle tyme is not ynoughe for the acheuinge of a great matter. Which is al one with this in engliſhe: Rome was not buylt in one day.

   • 1546, John Heywood, chapter XI, in Julian Sharman, editor, The Proverbs of John Heywood. […], London: George Bell and Sons, […], published 1874, →OCLC, part I, pages 64–65:

     Rome was not built in one day (quoth he), and yet stood / Till it was finisht, as some say, full fayre.

     The spelling has been modernized.

   • 1610, Jos[eph] Hall, “Section XXV. What Separation England hath Made.”, in A Common Apologie of the Church of England: Against the Uniust Challenges of the Ouer-iust Sect, Commonly Called Brownists. […], London: […] [William Stansby] for Samuel Macham, […], →OCLC, marginal note, page 63:

     The Reformation you haue made of the many and maine corruptions of the Romiſh Ch[urch] vve do ingenuouſly acknovvledge, and doe vvithall imbrace vvith you all the truths vvhich to our knovvledge you haue receiued in ſtead of them. But Rome vvas not built all in a day.

   • 1663, Edward Waterhous [i.e., Edward Waterhouse], chapter XXIX, in Fortescutus Illustratus; or A Commentary on that Nervous Treatise De Laudibus Legum Angliæ, Written by Sir John Fortescue Knight, […], London: […] Tho[mas] Roycroft for Thomas Dicas […], →OCLC, page 375:

     […] Rome vvas not built in a day, nor is a Reformation in the true Lavv-ſenſe effectable preſently; […]

   • 1748, [Tobias Smollett], “I Cultivate an Acquaintance with Two Noblemen […]”, in The Adventures of Roderick Random. […], volume II, London: […] [William Strahan] for J[ohn] Osborn […], →OCLC, page 173:

     [Y]ou muſt lay your account vvith mounting by gradual ſteps to the ſummit of your fortune.—Rome vvas not built in a day,— […]

   • 1804, W[illiam] Dunlap, “The Wife of Two Husbands. A Drama, […]”, in The English and American Stage, volume III, New York, N.Y.: […] D. Longworth, […], published 1807, →OCLC, Act I, scene i, page 4:

     But, "Rome wasent built in a day," nor will one thump of the pate make a soldier.

   • 1822 May 29, [Walter Scott], chapter X, in The Fortunes of Nigel. […], volume II, Edinburgh: […] [James Ballantyne and Co.] for Archibald Constable and Co.; London: Hurst, Robinson, and Co., →OCLC, pages 237–238:

     [T]hou must have patience. Rome was not built in a day—you cannot become used to your court-suit in a month's time, any more than when you changed your long coat for a doublet and hose; […]

   • 1823, [James Fenimore Cooper], chapter I, in The Pioneers, or The Sources of the Susquehanna; […], volume II, New York, N.Y.: Charles Wiley;  […], →OCLC, page 17:

     Rome wasn't built in a day, nor, for that matter, Templetown 'ither, though it may be said to be a quick-growing place.

   • 1849, Currer Bell [pseudonym; Charlotte Brontë], “Coriolanus”, in Shirley. A Tale. […], volume I, London: Smith, Elder and Co., […], →OCLC, page 123:

     "As Rome," it was suggested, "had not been built in a day,["] so neither had Mademoiselle Gérard Moore's education been completed in a week, or by merely wishing to be clever. It was effort that had accomplished that great work: […]

   • 1960 March 7, George Todt, “George Todt’s opinion: Civil rights fate uncertain”, in Valley Times, home edition, volume 23, number 57, North Hollywood, Calif.: Robert N. Weed, →OCLC, page 14, column 6:

     Rome wasn't built in a day and the path of black and white relationships in the South won't be solved overnight, either.

   • 2010 January 22, [unidentified questioner], “Remarks at a Town Hall Meeting and a Question-and-answer Session in Elyria, Ohio”, in Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: Barack Obama: 2010 […], book I (January 1 to June 30, 2010), Washington, D.C.: Office of the Federal Register, National Archives and Records Administration; United States Government Printing Office, published 2013, →OCLC, page 61, column 1:

     I feel like Rome wasn't built in a day, and I know that everybody is really impatient, but I know that with time things can be turned around.

   • 2014 August, Roger Sutton, “A Blank Canvas for New Beginnings”, in Barnaby Bennett, James Dann, Emma Johnson, Ryan Reynolds, editors, Once in a Lifetime: City-building after Disaster in Christchurch, Christchurch: Freerange Press, →ISBN, page 54:

     I actually believe in some respects we may be in danger of working too quickly, simply to address that perception. As the ridiculously over-used cliché notes, Rome was not built in a day. What I do accept is that the 100-day project that saw the new city plan designed was done at breakneck speed. This was a phenomenally challenging time frame but absolutely crucial. For a community still suffering, still shocked, and literally still shaking, there clearly needed to be a plan put in place as quickly as possible.

Usage notes

Earlier uses of the proverb tend to be in the form Rome was not built in a day.

Alternative forms

• Rome was not built in a day

Derived terms

• Rome wasn't burned in a day

Translations

it takes a long time to create something complicated or impressive

• Amharic: ሮም፡በአንድ፡ቀን፡አልተገነባችም (rom bäʾand ḳän ʾaltägänäbbaččəmm)
• Arabic: لَم تُبْنَ رُومَا فِي يَوْم (lam tubna rūmā fī yawm)
• Bulgarian: хубавите неща стават бавно (hubavite nešta stavat bavno)
• Cebuano: dilî tanáng butang sili nga mohaláng dayon (literally “not everything takes effect immediately like the instant taste of spiciness from a chili pepper”)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 羅馬不是一日建成的／罗马不是一日建成的 (Luómǎ bù shì yī rì jiàn chéng de), 冰凍三尺，非一日之寒／冰冻三尺，非一日之寒 (bīngdòng sān chǐ, fēi yīrì zhī hán, literally “three feet of ice is not the result of one cold day”)

• Danish: Rom blev ikke bygget på en dag
• Dutch: Rome is niet op één dag gebouwd, Keulen en Aken zijn niet op één dag gebouwd
• Esperanto: ne en unu tago elkreskis Kartago (literally “Carthage wasn’t built in a day”)
• Estonian: Roomat ei ehitatud ühe päevaga
• Finnish: ei Roomaakaan päivässä rakennettu, Roomaa ei rakennettu yhdessä päivässä
• French: Rome ne s’est pas faite en un jour (fr), Paris ne s’est pas fait en un jour (fr) (literally “Paris wasn’t built in a day”)
• Galician: Roma non se fixo nun día
• German: Rom ist nicht an einem Tag erbaut worden, Rom wurde nicht in einem Tag erbaut
• Greek: η Ρώμη δεν χτίστηκε σε μια μέρα (i Rómi den chtístike se mia méra)
• Gujarati: ઉતાવળે આંબા ન પાકે (utāvaḷe ā̃bā na pāke, literally “mangos will not ripen with haste”)
• Hebrew: רומא לא נבנתה ביום אחד
• Hungarian: Róma sem egy nap alatt épült (fel), nem egy nap alatt épült fel Róma
• Icelandic: Róm var ekki byggð á einum degi
• Ido: Roma ne konstruktesis dum un dio
• Indonesian: Roma tidak dibangun dalam sehari
• Irish: i ndiaidh a chéile a thógtar na caisleáin
• Italian: Roma non fu fatta in un giorno
• Japanese: ローマは一日にして成らず (ja) (Rōma wa ichinichi ni shite narazu)
• Korean: 로마는 하루 아침에 이루어지지 않았다 (Roma-neun haru achim-e irueo-jiji anatda)
• Latin: Rōma nōn ūnō diē aedificāta est
• Lithuanian: Roma nebuvo pastatyta per dieną
• Macedonian: please add this translation if you can
• Maori: e kore e taea e te rā o te waru
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: Rom ble ikke bygget på en dag

  Nynorsk: Roma vart ikkje bygd på éin dag

• Polish: nie od razu Rzym zbudowano (pl), nie od razu Kraków zbudowano (pl) (literally “Kraków wasn’t built in a day”)
• Portuguese: Roma e Pavia não se fizeram num dia (literally “Rome and Pavia were not built in a day”)
• Russian: Москва́ не сра́зу стро́илась (Moskvá ne srázu stróilasʹ, literally “Moscow wasn’t built at once”)
• Scottish Gaelic: chan ann leis a’ chiad bhuille a thuiteas a’ chraobh (literally “the tree does not fall with the first blow”)
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: Рим није саграђен у једном дану

  Roman: Rim nije sagrađen u jednom danu

• Spanish: Roma no se hizo en un día (es), no se ganó Zamora en una hora (es)
• Swedish: Rom byggdes inte på en dag (sv)
• Thai: กรุงโรมไม่ได้สร้างเสร็จในวันเดียว (th) (grung-room-mâi-dâi-sâang-sèt-nai-wan-diao)
• Turkish: sabreden derviş muradına ermiş (literally “the patient dervish achieved his goal”)
• Ukrainian: Рим не одразу будувався (Rym ne odrazu buduvavsja), Рим не одразу збудований (Rym ne odrazu zbudovanyj), Київ не відразу збудований (Kyjiv ne vidrazu zbudovanyj, literally “Kyiv was not built immediately”)
• Welsh: nid mewn undydd y codwyd Rhufain

See also

• a journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step
• all roads lead to Rome
• eat an elephant one bite at a time
• haste makes waste
• more haste, less speed
• slow and steady wins the race

 

Further reading

• Rome wasn’t built in a day on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
• Gregory Y. Titelman (1996) Random House Dictionary of Popular Proverbs & Sayings, New York, N.Y.: Random House, →ISBN, page 292.