Skip to main content
Glite Dictionary
when in Rome

when in Rome

6.8
Act like local people when you visit a place
  • idiom
  • Informal
translation icon : cuando estés en Roma
  • And when in Rome...

Examples

  • When in Rome, he thought, one does as the Romans do.

    Fiction book (1993)

  • When in Rome, it's best to try the local food and customs.

  • She always follows the local traditions; after all, when in Rome, do as the Romans do.

  • Traveling abroad, he remembered the saying, 'when in Rome, adapt to the local culture.'

Synonyms

when in Rome, do as the Romans do
vswhen in Rome
  • Informal
7.6

Follow how people behave where you are

is the shortened, familiar phrase used instead of the full proverb

How Conforming

to fit in
172 3.0
when in Rome
  • Informal
6.8
to assimilate
77 6.1
to adapt
150 3.0
to resist
311 2.2
to rebel
48 4.1

Surface Forms

when in Rome main

Morphology

when + in + Rome

The literal components give a clear locative/temporal sense ('when you are in Rome'), so learners can infer the expression refers to being in a particular place; however the conventional meaning—'follow the local customs'—is a pragmatic/cultural inference not directly entailed by the words. Many languages have equivalent proverbs, which can help learners infer the intended advice, but the meaning is not fully predictable from the constituents alone.

Etymology

When in Rome comes from old advice to visitors in the city of Rome: people were told to copy what the locals did so they would fit in. So when in Rome now means 'follow the customs'.