Etymology

cui bono

Today it means: The principle that the ultimate initiator of an action is likely the person who stands to gain from the action. Full definition →

Latin cui bonō fuisset
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The story

  1. Latin · borrowed fromcui bonō fuisset“to whom it would have benefited”
  2. English todaycui bono

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.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.