9 August 2018

sine qua non

[sahy-nee kwey non, kwah, sin-ey; Latin si-ne kwah-nohn]

noun

1. an indispensable condition, element, or factor; something essential:
Her presence was the sine qua non of every social event.

Origin of sine qua non

Late Latin. From the Late Latin word sine quā (causā) nōn without which (thing) not
causa sine qua non. Literally, a cause without which not

Dictionary.com

Examples from the Web for sine qua non

Contemporary Examples

That accumulation of identities is already a sine qua non when speaking of Hispanics, like Zimmerman.
George Zimmerman, Hispanics, and the Messy Nature of American Identity
Ilan Stavans
April 6, 2012

In the land of the industrial revolution, foreign ownership and management is the sine qua non of industrial success.
Britain is in No Position to Rule the Waves
Noah Kristula-Green
March 8, 2012

This unsmoked, wet-cured ham is the sine qua non of Parisian butcher shops: a light, ephemeral meat, sweet but umami.
Easter’s Top Five Hams
Mark Scarbrough
March 30, 2010

Today’s quote

Why fit in when you were born to stand out?

– Theodor Seuss Geisel

On this day

9 August – World Indigenous Day – to promote and protect the rights of the world’s indigenous populations. It also recognises the achievements and contributions that indigenous people make to improve world issues.

9 August 1936 – Jesse Owens, an African-American athlete, wins his 4th gold medal at the Berlin Olympics – much to Adolf Hitler’s chagrin. Hitler had hoped the games would show-case white Aryan ideals, and was disgusted that a black athlete had achieved more than the white athletes.

9 August 1945 – USA drops an atomic bomb, called ‘Fat Boy’ on Nagasaki, Japan. It is estimated that between 60,000 to 80,000 people died within four months of the bombing, with half that number dying on the day of the bombing.