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Words, grammatical forms and meanings linked to the ontology.

quality en · NOUN

Pronunciation

  • /ˈkwɔlɪtɪj/ (British, Southern, Standard)
  • /ˈkwælɪti/ (obsolete)
  • [ˈkʰwɒləti] (Canada)
  • /ˈkwɒləti/ (New-Zealand)
  • [ˈkʰwɔɫəɾi] (Australia)
  • /ˈkwɔlɪte/ (Scotland)
  • (California) audio
  • /ˈkwɒləti/ (Canada)
  • /ˈkwɔləti/ (Australia)
  • /ˈkwælɪtɪ/ (obsolete)
  • /ˈkwɑləti/ (General-American)
  • /ˈkwɒlɪti/ (Received-Pronunciation)
  • [ˈkʰwɔ̟ɫəɾi] (New-Zealand)
  • [ˈkʰwɑləɾi] (General-American)

Etymology

From Middle English qualite, from Old French qualité, from Latin quālitās, quālitātem, from quālis (“of what kind”), from Proto-Indo-European *kʷo- (“who, how”). Cicero coined qualitas as a calque to translate the Ancient Greek word ποιότης (poiótēs, “quality”), coined by Plato from ποῖος (poîos, “of what nature, of what kind”).

Meanings

  1. (countable) The kind, condition, and/or the set of characteristics of something, as opposed to the quantity of something.
    • Tuc[ca]. […] Can thy Author doe it impudently enough? / Hiſt[rio]. O, I warrant you, Captaine: and ſpitefully inough too; he ha's one of the moſt ouerflowing villanous wits, in Rome. He will ſlander any man that breathes; If he diſguſt him. / Tucca. I'le know the poor, egregious, nitty Raſcall; and he haue ſuch commendable Qualities, I'le cheriſh him: […] 1601, Ben Jonson, Poetaster or The Arraignment: […], London: […] [R. Bradock] for M[atthew] L[ownes] […], published 1602, →OCLC, Act III:
    • Something about his bearing was uncommitted, as though he were checking not for some bad quality he knew Feldman had, but for some good quality he was afraid he might have. 2010, Stanley Elkin, A Bad Man:
    • “That's life,” she said, and buzzed off to keep her vigil, leaving me kicking myself because I'd forgotten to say anything about the quality of mercy not being strained. It isn't, as I dare say you know, and a mention of this might just have done the trick. 1960, P[elham] G[renville] Wodehouse, chapter XX, in Jeeves in the Offing, London: Herbert Jenkins, →OCLC:
    • The lattice structure of a steel profoundly changes its qualities.
  2. (countable) A single trait.
    • Security, stability, and efficiency are good qualities of an operating system.
    • While being impulsive can be great for artists, it is not a desirable quality for engineers.
  3. (uncountable) Good characteristics in particular; level of excellence; freedom of faults and flaws.
    • “I'll tell you what you're going to do. Have you a clean shirt?” “Several.” “And a toothbrush?” “Two, both of the finest quality.” “Then pack them. You're coming to Brinkley tomorrow.” 1960, P[elham] G[renville] Wodehouse, chapter I, in Jeeves in the Offing, London: Herbert Jenkins, →OCLC:
    • This school is well-known for having teachers of high quality.
    • He called for China’s cooperation in efforts to improve air quality. 2019, VOA Learning English (public domain)
    • Quality of life is usually determined by health, education, and income.
  4. (attributive, countable, qualifier:occasionally proscribed, uncountable) Good worth, good make.
    • A model for discriminating women! A "quality" coat in every sense! 1930, Stella Blum, Everyday Fashion of the Thirties as pictured in Sears Catalogs, published 1986, page 4:
    • A very quality ball club; that was the Braves. 2008, Fay Vincent, quoting Carl Erskine, We Would Have Played for Nothing: Baseball Stars of the 1950s and 1960s Talk About the Game They Loved, Simon and Schuster, →ISBN, page 144:
    • That was a quality game by Jim Smith.
    • For one I wanted to have what I considered a very quality tracking device. 2004, Vance M. Thompson, MD, edited by J. Kevin Belville and Ronald J. Smith, LASIK Techniques: Pearls and Pitfalls, SLACK Incorporated, →ISBN, page 187:
    • For this building project we need to use quality materials that will last for many decades.
    • I mean a lot of the money that obviously goes into universities and their libraries and their facilities and their academics and stuff but I mean I haven’t had a very quality degree to be honest. I think the quality of my education has been crap . . . a. 2003, John Ahier, John Beck, Rob Moore, quoting Harriet (a Cambridge University student), Graduate Citizens?: Issues of Citizenship and Higher Education, Routledge, published 2003, →ISBN, page 114:
    • We had some quality time yesterday!
    • A quality system ensures products meet customer requirements.
  5. (archaic, countable, uncountable) Position; status; rank.
    • The firſt Solemn Embaſſy that the French King ſent to the late King of SIAM, was in the Year 1685, by Monſieur de Chaumont, who went in Quality of Ambaſſador Extraordinary […] 1690, “The Preface to the Reader”, in A Full and True Relation of the Great and Wonderful Revolution That Hapned Lately in the Kingdom of Siam in the East-Indies, London: Randal Taylor, page i:
  6. (archaic, countable, uncountable) High social position. (See also the quality.)
    • A peasant is not allowed to fall in love with a lady of quality.
    • Membership of this golf club is limited to those of quality and wealth.
  7. (countable, uncountable) In a two-phase liquid–vapor mixture, the ratio of the mass of vapor present to the total mass of the mixture.
  8. (countable) The third step in OPQRST where the responder investigates what the NOI/MOI feels like.
    • To identify quality try asking, "what does it feel like?".
  9. (UK, countable) A newspaper with relatively serious, high-quality content.
    • It is argued that in the last ten years or so, quality broadsheet newspapers have become more like the tabloids. Anthony Sampson has argued that 'the frontier between the qualities and popular papers has virtually disappeared'. 1998, Bill Coxall, Lynton Robins, Robert Leach, Contemporary British Politics, page 164:

Forms

SpellingFeaturesLabelsSource
qualities Number=Plur lexicographic

Coordinates

quiddity (a property that differentiates)

Deriveds

high-quality · quality over quantity · qualitiness · subquality · unquality · quality binding · high quality rip · quality control · poor-quality · voice quality · qualityness · quality circle · potato-quality · quality-adjusted · surface quality · letter-quality printing · near letter-quality · letter-quality · quality time · qualitative · quality start · quality newspaper · quality-adjusted life year · quality requirement · quality of life · quality fade · qualify · medium-quality · nonquality · quality assurance · the quality · the Quality · quality magazine · data quality · quality of service · star quality · redeeming quality · superquality · qualitied · preview-quality · top-quality · qualityless · draft-quality · qualitywise · low-quality · total quality management · unqualitied

Descendants

kualiti · 퀄리티 · クオリティ

Hyponyms

industrial quality

Relateds

qualia · qualitative

Synonyms

duty

Translations (243)

pt alta classe (archaic: social position) · nl kwaliteit (level of excellence) · el ποιότητα (characteristics or the set thereof) · ka თვისება (characteristics or the set thereof) · sh квалите́та (level of excellence) · bcl kalidad (level of excellence) · tr kalite (level of excellence) · fr de qualité (being of good worth (attributive, adjectival)) · ckb چۆنیەتی (level of excellence) · my အမျိုးအရိုး (level of excellence) · lo ຄຸນນະພາບ (level of excellence) · fi laatu- (being of good worth (attributive, adjectival)) · ang hwelcnes (level of excellence) · gl calidade (degree to which a man-made object or system is free from bugs and flaws) · sl kakóvost (characteristics or the set thereof) · ltg patycameiba (degree to which a man-made object or system is free from bugs and flaws) · fa-ira صِفَت (characteristics or the set thereof) · cmn 高級 /高级 (being of good worth (attributive, adjectival)) · ru первокла́ссный (being of good worth (attributive, adjectival)) · ja 品質 (level of excellence) · ia qualitate (characteristics or the set thereof) · my အရည်အသွေး (level of excellence) · hu minőségi (being of good worth (attributive, adjectival)) · sip ཁུངས་དག (being of good worth (attributive, adjectival)) · grc ποιότης (characteristics or the set thereof) · pdt Ieejenschoft (characteristics or the set thereof) · te గుణం (characteristics or the set thereof) · th คุณภาพ (level of excellence) · ar جَوْدَة (level of excellence) · ko 품질 (level of excellence) · ur گُن (characteristics or the set thereof) · kmr çawanî (level of excellence) · sh ква̏лите̄тан (being of good worth (attributive, adjectival)) · nl klasse (being of good worth (attributive, adjectival)) · uk я́кісний (being of good worth (attributive, adjectival)) · pt qualidade (characteristics or the set thereof) · mk квалите́тен (being of good worth (attributive, adjectival)) · sv stånd (archaic: social position) · gl calidade (characteristics or the set thereof) · ru сво́йство (characteristics or the set thereof) · ro calitate (level of excellence) · gl calidade (level of excellence) · el ποιότητα (level of excellence) · bg сво́йство (characteristics or the set thereof) · ja 高級な (being of good worth (attributive, adjectival)) · ltg kaideiba (characteristics or the set thereof) · ca qualitat (level of excellence) · nl klasse (archaic: social position) · ru надёжность (degree to which a man-made object or system is free from bugs and flaws) · hu sajátság (characteristics or the set thereof) · ja 質 (level of excellence) · sk akosť (level of excellence) · bg положе́ние (archaic: social position) · sh kvalitéta (level of excellence) · ia qualitate (level of excellence) · gl clase alta (archaic: social position) · ru ка́чественный (being of good worth (attributive, adjectival)) · gsw Äigeschaft (characteristics or the set thereof) · mi tuawhiti (being of good worth (attributive, adjectival)) · es calidad (level of excellence) · cmn 質量 /质量 (level of excellence) · sv kvalitet (characteristics or the set thereof) · id berkualitas (being of good worth (attributive, adjectival)) · de hochklassig (being of good worth (attributive, adjectival)) · hi गुणवत्ता (level of excellence) · mi kounga (level of excellence) · km គុណភាព (characteristics or the set thereof) · aii ܕܵܐܟ݂ܝܼܘܼܬܵܐ (level of excellence) · be я́касць (characteristics or the set thereof) · ps نوعيت (level of excellence) · nl eersteklas (being of good worth (attributive, adjectival)) · nrf qualitaï (level of excellence) · da kvalitet (level of excellence) · sq veçanti (characteristics or the set thereof) · hi गुण (level of excellence) · uk я́кість (level of excellence) · nl hoedanigheid (characteristics or the set thereof) · ca de qualitat (being of good worth (attributive, adjectival)) · el ποιοτικός (being of good worth (attributive, adjectival)) · cmn 水準 /水准 (characteristics or the set thereof) · ja 性質 (characteristics or the set thereof) · ms bermutu (being of good worth (attributive, adjectival)) · nrf qualitaï (characteristics or the set thereof) · pl przymiot (characteristics or the set thereof) · eo eco (characteristics or the set thereof) · tg сифат (characteristics or the set thereof) · bg ка́чество (level of excellence) · he סְגֻלָּה (characteristics or the set thereof) · cs kvalita (level of excellence) · he איכותי (being of good worth (attributive, adjectival)) · ja 良質な (being of good worth (attributive, adjectival)) · fa-ira کِیْفِیَّت (level of excellence) · pl jakość (level of excellence) · de erstklassig (being of good worth (attributive, adjectival)) · mn ᠴᠢᠨᠠᠷ (level of excellence) · id kualitas (level of excellence) · ms kualiti (level of excellence) · sh kvȁlitētan (being of good worth (attributive, adjectival)) · fi ominaisuus (characteristics or the set thereof) · ru доброка́чественный (being of good worth (attributive, adjectival)) · az keyfiyyət (level of excellence) · ja 品 (archaic: social position) · oc qualitat (level of excellence) · sq cilësi (level of excellence) · tg сифат (level of excellence) · ar نَوْعِيَّة (level of excellence) · ml നിലവാരം (level of excellence) · ru у́ровень (level of excellence) · mfe kalite (level of excellence) · vi chất lượng (level of excellence) · hi गुण (characteristics or the set thereof) · la prōprietās (characteristics or the set thereof) · fi laatu (degree to which a man-made object or system is free from bugs and flaws) · cmn 品質 /品质 (level of excellence) · km គុណភាព (level of excellence) · cmn 權貴 /权贵 (archaic: social position) · te నాణ్యత (level of excellence) · ca qualitat (characteristics or the set thereof) · fi laadukas (being of good worth (attributive, adjectival)) · fi laatu (level of excellence) · hy որակ (level of excellence) · el καλοφτιαγμένος (being of good worth (attributive, adjectival)) · ms kualitas (level of excellence) · sv kvalité (characteristics or the set thereof) · ko 질 (level of excellence) · sk kvalita (level of excellence) · pt qualidade (level of excellence) · ltg kaideiba (degree to which a man-made object or system is free from bugs and flaws) · ug سۈپەت (level of excellence) · sl kakóvost (level of excellence) · lt kokybė (level of excellence) · grc ποιότης (level of excellence) · ga ardchaighdeáin (being of good worth (attributive, adjectival)) · uk наді́йність (degree to which a man-made object or system is free from bugs and flaws) · fa-ira کِیْفِیَت (level of excellence) · he תְּכוּנָה (characteristics or the set thereof) · de Qualitäts- (being of good worth (attributive, adjectival)) · bg качествен (being of good worth (attributive, adjectival)) · io qualeso (level of excellence) · tr nitelik (level of excellence) · uz sifat (level of excellence) · lv kvalitāte (level of excellence) · tl de-kalidad (being of good worth (attributive, adjectival)) · fi sääty (archaic: social position) · ko 특질 (characteristics or the set thereof) · mfe kalite (characteristics or the set thereof) · tl kalidad (characteristics or the set thereof) · sq cilësi (characteristics or the set thereof) · tt сыйфат (level of excellence) · ang hwelcnes (characteristics or the set thereof) · my ရည် (characteristics or the set thereof) · de Eigenschaft (characteristics or the set thereof) · mk квалите́т (level of excellence) · mk одлика (characteristics or the set thereof) · sv kvalitet (level of excellence) · ru ка́чество (characteristics or the set thereof) · he אֵיכוּת (level of excellence) · de Qualität (characteristics or the set thereof) · ta தரம் (degree to which a man-made object or system is free from bugs and flaws) · ltg stāte (archaic: social position) · ltg kaideiba (level of excellence) · sv egenskap (characteristics or the set thereof) · ru высокока́чественный (being of good worth (attributive, adjectival)) · nb kvalitet (level of excellence) · sv kvalité (level of excellence) · cs jakost (level of excellence) · es polenta (being of good worth (attributive, adjectival)) · lv kādība (level of excellence) · cmn 性質 /性质 (characteristics or the set thereof) · tr kaliteli (being of good worth (attributive, adjectival)) · af eienskap (characteristics or the set thereof) · pl cecha (characteristics or the set thereof) · ru ка́чество (level of excellence) · ur صِفَت (characteristics or the set thereof) · uk я́кість (characteristics or the set thereof) · mg toetra (level of excellence) · te లక్షణం (characteristics or the set thereof) · ga dúchas (characteristics or the set thereof) · ky сапат (level of excellence) · la quālitās (level of excellence) · ka ხარისხი (level of excellence) · nap qualetà (level of excellence) · it qualità (level of excellence) · nl hoogwaardig (being of good worth (attributive, adjectival)) · fi laadukkuus (degree to which a man-made object or system is free from bugs and flaws) · is gæði (level of excellence) · be я́касць (level of excellence) · sv kvalitet (being of good worth (attributive, adjectival)) · sl kakovost (level of excellence) · de hochwertig (being of good worth (attributive, adjectival)) · tr nitelik (characteristics or the set thereof) · ms berkualiti (being of good worth (attributive, adjectival)) · sv hög rang (archaic: social position) · it qualità (characteristics or the set thereof) · tl kalidad (degree to which a man-made object or system is free from bugs and flaws) · es cualidad (characteristics or the set thereof) · cmn 優質 /优质 (being of good worth (attributive, adjectival)) · ga aitreabúid (characteristics or the set thereof) · ms mutu (level of excellence) · hi गुणवत्ता (being of good worth (attributive, adjectival)) · hu tulajdonság (characteristics or the set thereof) · kk сапа (level of excellence) · ro calitate (characteristics or the set thereof) · yi קוואַליטעט (level of excellence) · af kwaliteit (level of excellence) · fr qualité (characteristics or the set thereof) · it qualità (archaic: social position) · mg toetra (archaic: social position) · pt de qualidade (being of good worth (attributive, adjectival)) · fi hyvälaatuinen (being of good worth (attributive, adjectival)) · ru зна́тность (archaic: social position) · cs vlastnost (characteristics or the set thereof) · fa-ira کوالیتِه (level of excellence) · eo kvalito (level of excellence) · gl de calidade (being of good worth (attributive, adjectival)) · pt qualidade (degree to which a man-made object or system is free from bugs and flaws) · cs kvalitní (being of good worth (attributive, adjectival)) · kmr kalîte (level of excellence) · tr kaliteli (degree to which a man-made object or system is free from bugs and flaws) · et kvaliteet (level of excellence) · ta பண்பு (level of excellence) · nl kwaliteit (characteristics or the set thereof) · mk особина (characteristics or the set thereof) · oc qualitat (characteristics or the set thereof) · tk hil (level of excellence) · fi höyrypitoisuus (ratio of the mass of vapor present to the total mass of a two-phase liquid–vapor mixture) · ur مِعْیار (level of excellence) · fi ominaispiirre (characteristics or the set thereof) · nl eigenschap (characteristics or the set thereof) · es de calidad (being of good worth (attributive, adjectival)) · om waandansaa (level of excellence) · de Qualität (level of excellence) · tl kalidad (level of excellence) · ru положе́ние (archaic: social position) · my အရည် (characteristics or the set thereof) · mn чанар (level of excellence) · es estofa (level of excellence) · bn গুণ (level of excellence) · be я́касьць (level of excellence) · ja 上質な (being of good worth (attributive, adjectival)) · hu minőség (level of excellence) · az necəlik (level of excellence) · fr qualité (level of excellence)