condition sine qua non

French

Etymology

Learned borrowing from Latin sine quā nōn (“without which it is not possible”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /kɔ̃.di.sjɔ̃ si.ne kwa nɔn/

Noun

condition sine qua non f (plural conditions sine qua non)

1. a sine qua non, an indispensable condition

   Near-synonym: condition nécessaire

Further reading

• “sine qua non”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.