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An essential element or condition: “The perfect cake is the sine qua non of the carefully planned modern wedding” (J.M. Hilary).
[Late Latin sine quā (causā) nōn, without which (cause) not : Latin sine, without + Latin quā, ablative of quī, which, what, who + Latin nōn, not.]
noun
An essential element or condition, as in A perfect cake is the since qua non of a birthday party. This phrase is Latin for "without which not" and has been used in English since about 1600. It appears more in writing than in speech.
[Latin, Without which not.] A description of a requisite or condition that is indispensable.
In the law of torts, a causal connection exists between a particular act and an injury when the injury would not have arisen but for the act. This is known as the but for rule or sine qua non rule.
Without which, not; an indispensable condition.
Sine qua non or conditio sine qua non was originally a Latin legal term for "without which it could not be" ("but for"). It refers to an indispensable and essential action, condition, or ingredient. In recent times it has passed from a merely legal usage to a more general usage in many languages, including English, German, French, Italian, Spanish, etc. In Classical Latin the correct form uses the word condicio, but nowadays the phrase is sometimes found to be used with conditio, which has a different meaning in Latin ("foundation"). The phrase is also used in economics, philosophy, medicine and more recently, pornography.
An example of the term's usage was annotated in H.W. Brand's biography of Andrew Jackson. The book included a toast given by Andrew Jackson on the occasion of Jackson receiving an honorary doctorate from Harvard. The President responded to his listeners, "E pluribus unum, my friends. Sine qua non."
The phrase is also referenced in Chapter 5 of Gardner's Grendel. The dragon references the quote while discussing the absursdity of man.
Sine Qua Non is also a monster in the online RPG, Adventure Quest.
SQN Electronics is a United Kingdom company primarily producing audio mixers.
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 | Dictionary. The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition Copyright © 2007, 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Updated in 2007. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved. Read more |
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| Thesaurus. Roget's II: The New Thesaurus, Third Edition by the Editors of the American Heritage® Dictionary Copyright © 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved. Read more |
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| Idioms. The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer. Copyright © 1997 by The Christine Ammer 1992 Trust. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved. Read more |
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| Law Encyclopedia. West's Encyclopedia of American Law. Copyright © 1998 by The Gale Group, Inc. All rights reserved. Read more |
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| Latin Phrase. © 1999-2008 by Answers Corporation. All rights reserved. Read more |
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| Wikipedia. This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Sine qua non". Read more |
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