qua

[kwey, kwah]

adverb

1. as; as being; in the character or capacity of.

   The work of art qua art can be judged by aesthetic criteria only.

qua

/ kwɑː, kweɪ /

preposition

1. in the capacity of; by virtue of being

Word History and Origins

Origin of qua¹

First recorded in 1640–50; from Latin quā, feminine ablative singular of the relative pronoun quī who

Word History and Origins

Origin of qua¹

C17: from Latin, ablative singular (feminine) of qui who

Example Sentences

In fact, the history of whaling on its own disproves the central point of “The Killing Age,” that guns were a sine qua non for the making of the modern world.

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“But now speed and maneuverability are the sine qua non.”

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In Roberts’ opinion, he speaks about prohibiting universities from considering what he calls race qua race, and that, in my view, leaves institutions with a considerable amount of latitude to adopt and implement policies that would maintain and allow racial diversity to rebound.

Read more on Slate

But I think that, in a world of vigilantism and stochastic terror, it is not just bad for speech qua speech, but for governance qua governance.

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The photo-op had supplanted policy as the sine qua non of political discourse.

Read more on Los Angeles Times