Q. My question relates to commonly used Latin terms. Does one hyphenate if the phrase is used as a compound modifier? Examples: “The board has four ex officio members.” “Ad hoc committee members do not participate in executive sessions.”
A. Latin terms are not usually hyphenated when used as modifiers, perhaps because they used to be (and often still are) set in italics. In any case, the eye groups the Latin terms naturally enough without the aid.