cui bono

English

Etymology

From Cicero’s Pro Sexto Roscio Amerino, 84 & 86: Latin cui bonō fuisset (“to whom it would have benefited”), a so-called double dative construction.

Noun

cui bono (uncountable)

1. The principle that the ultimate initiator of an action is likely the person who stands to gain from the action.
   • 1900, Evelyn Shuckburgh, Letters to Atticus, translation of original by Marcus Tullius Cicero:

     If the principle of cui bono is applied, it is evident that the gainers were the party of the triumvirs, whose popularity would be increased by a belief being created that their opponents the Optimates were prepared to adopt extreme measures to get rid of them.

Synonyms

• cui prodest

See also

• follow the money

Further reading

• William Dwight Whitney, Benjamin E[li] Smith, editors (1911), “cui bono”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., →OCLC.
• “cui bono”, in OneLook Dictionary Search.

Portuguese

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin cui bonō.

Phrase

cui bono?

1. who benefits? who profits?; cui bono