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Sine Qua Non




''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 , Spanish , etc. In Classical Latin the correct form uses the word ''condicio'', but nowadays the phrase is sometimes found to be used with ''conditio'', which has a different meaning in Latin ("foundation").
The phrase is also used in economics, philosophy and medicine.

An example of the term's usage was annotated in H.W. Brand's biography of Andrew Jackson . The book included a toast given by Andrew Jackson on the occasion of Jackson receiving an honorary doctorate from Harvard . The President responded to his listeners, " E Pluribus Unum , my friends. Sine qua non."