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”

Example Sentences

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

From Time Magazine Archive

To rousing applause Citizen Smith was saluted by a class orator: "Te quoque, Alfrede praestantissime, felix ille miles, quamquam carmina de viis Novi Eboraci cantare non possumus . . . hand minus iuvat salutare."

From Time Magazine Archive

But a last cry of non possumus will probably go up from many readers.

From Essays in Radical Empiricism by James, William

He knew the non possumus of Rome too well to believe that in a spiritual crisis she could be moved by the threats of any ruler.

From Ten Years Near the German Frontier A Retrospect and a Warning by Egan, Maurice Francis

It was a curt and uncompromising non possumus, and Jefferson sighed.

From For Jacinta by Bindloss, Harold