sine qua non

sine qua non

A necessary, essential, or required element. The Latin phrases translates literally to "without which not." Some consider a good education to be the sine qua non of a successful career.
See also: non, qua, sine
Farlex Dictionary of Idioms.

sine qua non

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.
See also: non, qua, sine
The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer.

a sine qua ˈnon (of/for something)

/%sIneI kwA: "n@Un; American English "noUn/ (from Latin, formal) something that is essential before you can achieve something else: Many people believe that grammar is the sine qua non of language learning.
In Latin, this means ‘without which not’.
See also: non, qua, sine
Farlex Partner Idioms Dictionary

sine qua non

Essential part. As translated from the Latin, “Without which, there would be nothing,” the phrase is an erudite way to describe that which is indispensable or basic.
See also: non, qua, sine
Endangered Phrases by Steven D. Price
See also:
  • a sine qua non
  • qua
  • in petto
  • je ne sais quoi
  • Ne
  • audi alteram partem
  • literally
  • slight
  • in the least
  • festina lente
References in periodicals archive
Nonetheless, since many transactions will not be consummated without the covenants, the entire value of a transaction may be attributed to the covenant on the basis of it being a sine qua non. As a result, taxpayers and CRA will frequently find themselves at odds over the allocation of amounts to restrictive covenants.
By this, I mean that the company is no longer merely fixated on deploying features and services that boost individual packet usage and ARPU; this has been the sine qua non of mobile carriers in this country since the dawn of i-mode.
Yet the Report appears to be silent on raising the level of private investment, sine qua non for enhanced growth rate and employment opportunities It is essential that the State Bank should monitor this parameter carefully and take appropriate measures including tendering expert advice to the government.
The birdcalls are for her simply sound bites in the ambient database, snatches of interpretable noise whose adaptation to the concrete jungle does not alter their original context of vigilance and display-context, of course, being the sine qua non for determining the meaning in a message.
Based upon the literature review, the author states that the teacherOs sense of competency and self-efficacy is at the heart of reform and is the sine qua non of
Now more than ever, trust is the sine qua non of reputation.
The plugged-in home became the sine qua non of a "modern" style of life which, in turn, was synonymous with the good, happy, and free life.
Even with its gaps and typos, the new text of genetic instructions has instantly become a trove of information sine qua non for researchers.
The spreadsheet, long ago, became the sine qua non of corporate computing.
For the Bank, it runs the wide and undifferentiated gamut from marginally satisfactory to highly satisfactory and is divorced from the sine qua non of development, that of sustainability.
Joan Sherman's The Black Bard of North Carolina joins the sorely limited list of authoritative editions of the works of African American writers--a sine qua non for further scholarly treatments.
A traditionalist by today's standards, Stewart appeals to "experience" (167) and "common sense" (167) - rather than theory - as the sine qua non of early modern studies.
For Daily Telegraph feature writer Graham Turner, the notion that sex was the sine qua non for fulfilment was the great lie of the last half-century.
For the staff that must operate and maintain this equipment, these manuals -- not to mention a description of the equipment modifications not reflected in the manuals -- are a sine qua non. The project file bridges the gap separating the divergent perspectives of builders and users.