sine qua non
3
9.9
- noun
- /ˌsaɪneɪ kwɑː nɒn/
- Formal
:
sine qua non
- Indeed, auteurist trademarks can be said to be the sine qua non of competitions in the international festival circuit.
- the sine qua non of democracy
- condition sine qua non
Examples
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Effective communication is the sine qua non for any healthy relationship.
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In a world of change, we identify the following as sine qua non sustaining elements.
Academic text (2000) -
And if we want to find the right match, we have to understand the sine qua non of that person.
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All three levels of teachers clearly saw the students as the sine qua non for remaining in teaching.
Academic text (2010) -
A teacher's flexibility is the sine qua non of any kind of successful student research project.
Academic text (1991) -
Thus, price variability is the sine qua non of an efficient market economy.
Academic text (1991) -
Criticism of the various aspects of American social life was a condition sine qua non of publishable writing.
Academic text (2003) -
The existence of such frustrations and fears is the sine qua non of talk radio; it would not exist without them.
Academic text (2011) -
Elections, open, free, and fair, are the essence of democracy, the inescapable sine qua non.
Academic text (1997) -
The participation of Buthelezi and the IFP is the sine qua non of any successful political agreement.
Academic text (1993)
Synonyms
50
2.4
Things you need for a purpose, like food or water
3
6.8
Something needed for a particular activity or purpose
1
3.5
Something that must be true or happen first for another thing to happen
How Essential
Surface Forms
Morphology
sine + qua + non
This is a fixed Latin loan phrase whose constituents (sine, qua, non) are not productive English words for an average B1 learner, so the meaning cannot be derived from standard English composition patterns. Even though the literal Latin parts can be glossed ('without which not'), the phrase functions as an idiomatic Latinism in English and is not transparently predictable to learners who only know ordinary English vocabulary.
Etymology
Sine qua non comes from Latin words sine 'without', qua 'which', and non 'not'. The phrase literally means 'without which not', a clear picture of something you cannot do without, so it now means 'an essential condition'.