sine qua non

si·ne qua non

noun
\ˌsi-ni-ˌkwä-ˈnän, -ˈnōn also ˌsē-; also ˌsī-ni-ˌkwā-ˈnän\

plural sine qua nons also sine qui·bus non\-ˌkwi-(ˌ)bu̇s- also -ˌkwī-\

Definition of SINE QUA NON

: something absolutely indispensable or essential <reliability is a sine qua non for success>

Examples of SINE QUA NON

1. Patience is a sine qua non for this job.
2. <an extensive grounding in mathematics is a sine qua non for a career in architecture>

Origin of SINE QUA NON

Late Latin, without which not

First Known Use: 1602

Related to SINE QUA NON

Synonyms: condition, demand, must, must-have, necessary, necessity, need, needful, requirement, requisite, essential

Antonyms: nonessential, nonnecessity

Related Words: precondition, prerequisite; advantage, edge, plus; desideration, desideratum, wish

Near Antonyms: amenity, comfort, extra, extravagance, frill, indulgence, luxury, superfluity, surplus, surplusage

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Rhymes with SINE QUA NON

abutilon, Agamemnon, anticodon, antiproton, archenteron, arrière-ban, asyndeton, automaton, Azerbaijan, Bellerophon, bildungsroman, carrying-on, diazinon, dodecagon, emoticon, encephalon, get a move on, himation, interferon, kakiemon, keep an eye on, Laocoön, mesenteron, Michoacán, millimicron, oxymoron, phenomenon, protozoon, pteranodon, put the arm on, put the make on, rear echelon, Rostov-on-Don, Saskatchewan, septentrion, set one's heart on, set one's sights on, steal a march on, take it out on, Taklimakan, turn one's back on, Vientiane, wipe one's boots on, zero coupon, zooplankton