Quality definitions and example sentences on Wordnik

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Definitions (71)

American Heritage Dictionary (12)

noun An inherent or distinguishing characteristic; a property.
noun A personal trait, especially a character trait: "The most vital quality a soldier can possess is self-confidence” (George S. Patton).
noun Essential character; nature: "The quality of mercy is not strain'd” (Shakespeare).

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Century Dictionary (51)

That from which anything can be said to be such or such; a character expressible by an adjective admitting degrees of comparison, but not explicitly relative nor quantitative: thus, blueness, hardness, agility, and mirthfulness are qualities. The precise meaning of the word is governed by its prominence in Aristotelian philosophy, which formed part of a liberal education till near the end of the seventeenth century, though the modified doctrine of Ramus was taught at Cambridge. Aristotle makes quality one of his categories, or highest genera, and thereby distinguishes it absolutely from substance, quantity, and relation, as well as from place, time, action, passion, habit, and posture. A quality is further said by Aristotle to be something which has a contrary, which admits of degree, and which is a respect in which things agree and also differ. But no writers, not even Aristotle himself, have strictly observed these distinctions; and Cicero, much followed by the Ramists, uses the word quite loosely. Quality has, however, always been opposed to quantity; and few writers call the universal attributes of matter or those of mind qualities. There is somewhat contrarie unto qualitie, as vertue is contrarie unto vice, wit unto folie, manhode unto cowardise. The thing conteinyng or receivyng any qualitie maie be saied to receive either more or less. As one man is thoughte to be wiser then another, not that wisdome it self is either greater or lesse, but that it maie bee in some manne more and in some manne lesse. By qualitie things are compted either like or unlike. Those things are like whiche are of like qualitie and have proprieties bothe accordingly. Wilson, Rule of Reason (1551). Our good or evil estate after death dependeth most upon the quality of our lives. Hooker, Eccles. Polity, v. 46. Every sin, the oftener it is committed, the more it acquireth in the quality of evil. Sir T. Browne, Religio Medici, i. 42. Qualities do as well seem to belong to natural bodies generally considered as place, time, motion, and those other things. Boyle, Origin of Forms, Pref. The power to produce any idea in our mind, I call quality of the subject wherein that power is. Locke, Human Understanding, II. viii. 8. The three qualities which are usually said to distinguish atom from atom are shape, order, and position. W. Wallace, Epicureanism, p. 174.
One of those characters of a person or thing which make it good or bad; a moral disposition or habit. This use of the word, which comes from Aristotle, was much more common and varied down to the end of the eighteenth century than now. Good characters were called qualities more often than bad ones. All the qualities that man Loves woman for. Shak., Cymbeline, v. 5. 166. You must now speak Sir John Falstaff fair; Which swims against your stream of quality. Shak., 2 Hen. IV., v. 2. 34. To-night we'll wander through the streets, and note The qualities of people. Shak., A. and C., i. 1. 54. You never taught me how to handle cards, To cheat and cozen men with oaths and lies; Those are the worldly qualities to live. Beau. and Fl., Honest Man's Fortune, iv. 1. You must observe all the rare qualities, humours, and compliments of a gentleman. B. Jonson, Every Man out of his Humour, i. 1. Thou hast that pretty Quality of the familiar Fops of the Town, who, in an Eating-House, always keep Company with all People in 't but those they came with. Wycherley, Plain Dealer, v. 1. He is very great, and a very delightful man, and, with a few bad qualities added to his character, would have acted a most conspicuous part in life. Sydney Smith, To Lady Holland.
A distinguished and characteristic excellence or superiority: as, this wine has quality. We find spontaneity, also, in the rhymes of Allingham, whose “Mary Donnelly” and “The Fairies” have that intuitive grace called quality — a grace which no amount of artifice can ever hope to produce. Stedman, Vict. Poets, p. 258. In character the setter should display a great amount of quality, a term which is difficult of explanation, though fully appreciated by all experienced sportsmen. It means a combination of symmetry, as understood by the artist, with the peculiar attributes of the breed under examination, as interpreted by the sportsman. Dogs of Great Britain and America, p. 102.

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But among all his gifts he has a quality which I have not found so evident in any other musician—except perhaps Mozart; and this quality is a genius for good taste. — Musicians of To-Day
I just wanted to fangirl vent so the quality is a bit ... — Popular in the last 8 hours
As for the american auto industry, yes they built shoddy crap for decades, but now their quality is at (or almost at) world class levels, critics praise the new malibu etc.
The best example of this quality is the letter that Lincoln sent to Major General Joseph Hooker, whom he appointed commanding general of the Army of the Potomac in early 1863. — Claremont.org
Originally a VHS transfer so the quality is the highest standard. — We Blog A Lot

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character · power · value · sense · aspect · characteristic · style · expression

Roget's II: The New Thesaurus, Third Edition by the Editors of the American Heritage® Dictionary. Copyright © 2003, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

Etymologies (3)

American Heritage Dictionary (1)

Middle English qualite, from Old French, from Latin quālitās, quālitāt-, from quālis, of what kind; see k^wo- in Indo-European roots.

Century Dictionary (2)

from Old French qualite, French qualité = Spanish cualidad. calidad = Portuguese qualidade = Italian qualità, from Latin qualita(t-)s, property, nature, state, quality (Cicero, transitive Greek ποιότης), from qualis, interrog., of what kind, of what sort; rel., of such a kind, of such sort, such as, as; indefinite, having some quality or other; from quis, feminine ablative quā, who, what: see who.
quality, n.

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