Rome wasn't built in a day
Proposed by a contributor, not yet supported by evidence.
Also seen as: Rome was not built in a day
Meaning · English
Big projects take time to complete
Literally: Rome's construction spanned many years
Where it’s used:
Used
Widespread English
Examples
Rome wasn't built in a day.Rome đã không được xây trong 1 ngày
Tatoeba sentence #1777 (CC BY 2.0 FR, tatoeba.org, retrieved 2026-07-31)
Sources & notes
Listed on Wikipedia “List of proverbial phrases” (CC BY-SA 4.0, retrieved 2026-07-29); definition pending editorial review. Definition drafted by AI (@cf/meta/llama-3.3-70b-instruct-fp8-fast) and auto-approved by rule on 2026-07-30; pending editor spot-check.
Common questions
What does “Rome wasn't built in a day” mean?
Big projects take time to complete Literally: Rome's construction spanned many years
Is “Rome wasn't built in a day” formal or informal?
No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.