Link Centre Dictionary

quality

qua·lity

UK/ˈkwɒlɪti/ US/ˈkwɔlɪtɪj/ common uk
noun (5) adjective (2)

noun

1.

an essential and distinguishing attribute of something or someone

  • “the quality of mercy is not strained” -Shakespeare
2.

a degree or grade of excellence or worth

  • “the quality of students has risen”
  • “an executive of low caliber”
Synonyms
3.

a characteristic property that defines the apparent individual nature of something

  • “each town has a quality all its own”
  • “the radical character of our demands”
Synonyms
4.

(music) the distinctive property of a complex sound (a voice or noise or musical sound)

  • “the timbre of her soprano was rich and lovely”
  • “the muffled tones of the broken bell summoned them to meet”
Synonyms
5.

high social status

  • “a man of quality”

adjective

1.

of superior grade

  • “choice wines”
  • “prime beef”
  • “prize carnations”
  • “quality paper”
  • “select peaches”
Synonyms
Similar
2.

of high social status

  • “people of quality”
  • “a quality family”
Similar

Origin

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”).

Phrases

  • data quality
  • high quality rip
  • letter-quality printing
  • near letter-quality
  • quality assurance
  • quality binding
  • quality circle
  • quality-adjusted life year

Related words

Word family

Broader terms

Narrower terms

WordNet 2.1 (Princeton University). Wiktionary (CC BY-SA). CMU Pronouncing Dictionary. WordNet 2.1 Copyright Princeton University. All rights reserved. Wiktionary content is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike Licence.