cui bono
English edit
Etymology edit
From Cicero’s Pro Sexto Roscio Amerino, 84 & 86: Latin cui bonō fuisset (“to whom it would have benefited”), a so-called double dative construction.
Noun edit
cui bono (uncountable)
- The principle that the ultimate initiator of an action is likely the person who stands to gain from the action.
- 1900, Evelyn Shuckburgh, Letters to Atticus, translation of original by Marcus Tullius Cicero:
- If the principle of cui bono is applied, it is evident that the gainers were the party of the triumvirs, whose popularity would be increased by a belief being created that their opponents the Optimates were prepared to adopt extreme measures to get rid of them.
Synonyms edit
Further reading edit
- “cui bono”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911, →OCLC.
- “cui bono”, in OneLook Dictionary Search.
Portuguese edit
Etymology edit
Phrase edit
cui bono?