sine qua non
Syllables: si·ne qua non/ˌsaɪnɪ kweɪ ˈnɒn/US/ˌsɪni kwɑ ˈnɑn/
sine qua non noun: an essential or indispensable element, condition, or ingredient.
Noun
sine qua non (plural sine qua nons or sine quibus non)
- An essential or indispensable element, condition, or ingredient.
- Near-synonyms: dealbreaker, necessary condition
- 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...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
- Synonyms:
- nonnegotiable, prerequisite, dealbreaker, necessary condition
sine qua non meaning in Tamil, Arabic and Vietnamese
sine qua non in Tamil
- முக்கியமான, இன்றியமையாத தகுதிக்கூறு
sine qua non in Arabic
- prerequisite
- لا بُدَّ منه, شَرْط لَازِم šarṭ lāzim
sine qua non in Vietnamese
- prerequisite
- điều kiện tiên quyết
Examples of sine qua non in a sentence
- Literature, instead of being an accessory, is the fundamental sine qua non of complete living.1909, Arnold Bennett, chapter I, in Literary Taste: How to Form It:
- […] whereas some degree of political freedom is a sine qua non condition for contestation, democracy cannot be sufficiently defined in terms of “liberties”[…]2000, A. Przeworski, M. Alvarez, J. Cheibub, F. Limongi, Democracy and Development, Cambridge University Press, page 34:
Synonyms of sine qua non
Forms of sine qua non
| plural | sine qua nons |
|---|---|
| plural | sine quibus non |
| alternative form | sinequanon |
| alternative form | sine quâ non |
Origin of sine qua non
Borrowed from Latin [condiciō] sine quā nōn (“[condition] 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 tón ón ouk ánef)), and was later popularized by scholastics.
Words that rhyme with sine qua non
48 more rhymesFewer rhymes
- foregone
- mon
- qanon
- scone
- swan
- thereupon
- tick on
- wan
- a ton
- chignon
- con
- electron
- got it going on
- jupon
- ron
- soupçon
- thereon
- Toulon
- whereupon
- Yonne
- -hon
- -plon
- agone
- begone
- bent on
- build on
- build upon
- c'mon
- catch oneself on
- chron
- cock on
- Comecon
- conn
- cop oneself on
- Gabon
- garçon
- hither and yon
- hon
- macron
- microraion
- mont
- Perpignan
- phon
- pon
- raion
- shone
- sine quibus non
- Sir John
Questions about sine qua non
- What does sine qua non mean?
- Sine qua non means an essential or indispensable element, condition, or ingredient.
- What is sine qua non in Tamil?
- Sine qua non in Tamil is முக்கியமான, இன்றியமையாத தகுதிக்கூறு. See Sine qua non meaning in Tamil.
- How do you use sine qua non in a sentence?
- Literature, instead of being an accessory, is the fundamental sine qua non of complete living.
- What part of speech is sine qua non?
- Sine qua non is a noun.
- How do you pronounce sine qua non?
- Sine qua non is pronounced /ˌsaɪnɪ kweɪ ˈnɒn/ (UK).
- What is the plural of sine qua non?
- The plural of sine qua non is sine qua nons.
Words near sine qua non in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: sine qua non (page history and authors); sine qua non (Tamil Wiktionary) (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
Last updated:
Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-sine qua non1.wav.
Cite this entry: “sine qua non.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/sine_qua_non. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.