what does "sine qua non" mean?

Answer 1

means An essential condition or element; an indispensable thing.

Women's enfranchisement was crucial to them -- indeed, a sine qua non, since all other progress for which they worked, such as higher education and entrance into the professions, would be meaningless if women continued to be second-class citizens.
-- Lillian Faderman, To Believe in Women

Of the various attributes we fiction-writers require, he said, "one of the most important is detachment. Of course tenacity of purpose is the sine qua non, otherwise we'd never keep on with it for the year or two years or longer that it takes to finish the work."
-- Barry Unsworth, Sugar and Rum


However we choose to define a classic, a sine qua non is that the material lend itself to reinterpretation in the light of changing circumstances.
-- Matthew Gurewitsch, "A Country of Lesser Giants", New York Times, April 4, 1999

Sine qua non is from the Late Latin, literally "without which not."

Answer 2

Sine Qua Non Define

Answer 3

Define Sine Qua Non

Answer 4

According to The New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition, it is defined as follows:
(SIN-i kwah NON, NOHN) The essential, crucial, or indispensable ingredient without which something would be impossible: “Her leadership was the sine qua non of the organization’s success.” From Latin, meaning “without which nothing.”

Wikipedia defines it as follows:
Sine qua non or conditio sine qua non was originally a Latin legal term for "without which it could not be" ("but for"). It refers to an indispensable and essential action, condition, or ingredient. In recent times it has passed from a merely legal usage to a more general usage in many languages, including English, German, French, Italian, etc. In Classical Latin the form conditio would be condicio. The phrase is also used in economics.

If you want to hear how it is pronounced, you can use the first link below, which is the Merriam - Webster link.

I hope this helps some. Other links for you to view are provided.
Good Luck!

Answer 5

It means a thing that is depended upon by another thing. For example, a book is a "sine qua non" of a book reading.

Answer 6

without this nothing

Having a piano is a sine qua non of playing a piano concerto.

Answer 7

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sine_qua_non