non possumus

American  

[non pos-uh-muhs, nohn poh-soo-moos] / nɒn ˈpɒs ə məs, noʊn ˈpoʊ sʊˌmʊs /

noun

1. a statement that something cannot be done.

   The Pope would not accept a non possumus from the king.

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Etymology

Origin of non possumus

From Latin: literally, “we cannot”

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Example Sentences

See Examples For:

non possumus

The Prague Government made representations to Budapest, but the Royal Hungarian Government assumed a non possumus attitude.

From Time Magazine Archive

But when there is question of accepting it, his only word must be, as it has always been, non possumus.

From Pius IX. And His Time by Æneas MacDonell Dawson

The criticism of an unbiassed foreign observer on this attitude of rigid cast-iron non possumus is instructive.

From Ireland and the Home Rule Movement by Michael F. J. McDonnell

The obsolete policy of non possumus, behind which Turkey persists in sheltering herself has been, on more than one occasion, hurtful and fatal to her.

From The Contemporary Review, Volume 36, September 1879 by Various

A man had been brought to the chair of St. Peter who felt his own human power too strongly to consent to the impotence of the traditional non possumus.

From Margaret Fuller (Marchesa Ossoli) by Julia Ward Howe

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