sine qua non

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See also: sinequanon and sine quâ non

English

WOTD – 17 October 2012

Alternative forms

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin [condiciō] sine quā nōn (“ without which not”), an expression which originated in the works of Boethius as a translation of some Aristotelian expression (perhaps Ancient Greek οὗ οὐκ ἄνευ (hoû ouk áneu); compare also Modern Greek εκ των ων ουκ άνευ (ek ton on ouk ánef) / Katharevousa ἐκ τῶν ὧν οὐκ ἄνευ (ek tôn hôn ouk áneu)), and was later popularized by scholastics.

Pronunciation

Noun

sine qua non (plural sine qua nons or sine quibus non)

  1. An essential or indispensable element, condition, or ingredient.
    Synonyms: nonnegotiable (noun), prerequisite
    Near-synonyms: dealbreaker, necessary condition
    • 1842, [anonymous collaborator of Letitia Elizabeth Landon], chapter XXIX, in Lady Anne Granard; or, Keeping up Appearances. , volume II, London: Henry Colburn, , →OCLC, page 79:
      it is hardly likely he would have found any one so singularly interesting and fascinating as Margarita Riccardini; for the striking and animated beauty of her father was softened and relieved by that peculiar something, half modesty, and half pride, which is the characteristic of English loveliness, and which every Englishman requires as a sine qua non ere he resigns himself to a bondage it is the habit of his nature, or the result of his privileges, to admit reluctantly.
    • 1883 January 12, James S Borlase, “Darker than Death; a Tale of the Russia of To-day”, in The Hull Packet and East Riding Times, number 5,126, Kingston upon Hull, E.R.Y., chapter XVI (The Countess Takes Precautions and the Count Drives Bargains), page 3, column 3:
      Beauty, grace, and accomplishments are, as I said before, a sine qua non, but as Basil is already the colonel of a crack cavalry corps, and has other military honours promised him in the near future, as also by reason that his father is Governor-General of the gubernium of Odessa, and will leave his son abundant wealth as well as his title of count, I think I have a right to expect something more in his future wife than mere accomplishments and good looks.
    • 1909, Arnold Bennett, chapter I, in Literary Taste: How to Form It:
      Literature, instead of being an accessory, is the fundamental sine qua non of complete living.
    • 2000, A. Przeworski, M. Alvarez, J. Cheibub, F. Limongi, Democracy and Development, Cambridge University Press, page 34:
      […] whereas some degree of political freedom is a sine qua non condition for contestation, democracy cannot be sufficiently defined in terms of “liberties” […]

Translations

Further reading

Portuguese

Portuguese Wikipedia has an article on:
Wikipedia pt

Etymology

Unadapted borrowing from Latin [condiciō] sine quā nōn (“ without which not”).

Pronunciation

Adjective

sine qua non (invariable)

  1. (of a prerequisite) indispensable
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