qualify 
7. To moderate; soothe; abate; soften; di- 
minish ; assuage : as, to qualify the rigor of a 
statute. 
I do not seek to quench your love's hot fire, 
But qualify the fire's extreme rage. 
Shak., T. G. of V., ii. 7. 2-2. 
Although the seat of the Town be excessive hot, yet it 
is happily Qualified by a North-east gale that bloweth from 
sea " * Sandys, Travailes, p. 5. 
8. To modify the quality or strength of; make 
stronger, dilute, or otherwise fit for taste : as, to 
qualify liquors. 
I have drunk but one cup to-night, and that was craftily 
qualified too. Shut., Othello, ii. 3. 41. 
A set of feuars and bonnet lairds who . . . contrived to 
drink twopenny, qualified with brandy or whisky. 
Scott, St. Kenan's Well, i. 
9. To temper ; regulate ; control. 
This is the master-piece of a modern politician, how to 
quaKfie and mould the sufferance and subjection of the 
people to the length of that foot that is to tread on their 
necks. Milton, Reformation in Eng., ii. 
It [the bittern] hath no fit larynx or throttle to qualify 
the sound. Sir T. Browne, Vulg. Err., ill. 27. 
10. In Scotch law, to prove; authenticate; con- 
firm. 
The other [half of the goods forfeited] to be given to 
him who delates the recepters and qualifies the same. 
Scalding, Hist. Troubles in Scotland, I. 273. (Jandeson.) 
If any individual could qualify a wrong, and a damage 
arising from it. 
Thurlow, quoted in Boswell's Johnson (an. 1776). 
= Syn. 2. To prepare, capacitate. See qualified. 6 and 7. 
To reduce. 
II. intrans. 1. To take the necessary steps 
for rendering one's self capable of holding any 
office or enjoying any privilege; establish a 
claim or right to exercise any function. 2. To 
take the oath of office before entering upon its 
duties. 3. To make oath to any fact : as, lam 
ready to qualify to what I have asserted. [U. S.] 
qualitative (kwol'i-ta-tiv), a. [= F. qualitative 
= Sp. cualitativo = 'Pg. It. qualitative, < LL. 
qualitative, < L. qnalita(t-)s, quality: see qual- 
ity.'] Originally, depending upon qualities; 
now, non-quantitative; relating to the posses- 
sion of qualities without reference to the quan- 
tities involved ; stating that some phenomenon 
occurs, but without measurement. The word 
occurs, according to Dr. Fitzedward Hall, in 
Gaule's Uiif-^avria (1652). 
After this quantitative mental distinction [between men 
and women], which becomes incidentallyyuoKtatn* by tell- 
ing most upon the most recent and most complex facul- 
ties, there come the qualitative mental distinctions conse- 
quent on the relations of men and women to their chil- 
dren and to one another. 
H. Spencer, Study of Sociol., p. 374. 
Qualitative analysis, in chem. See analysis. Quali- 
tative atrophy, degeneration of tissue combined with 
atrophy. Qualitative definition, a definition by means 
of accidental qualities. 
qualitatively (kwol'i-ta-tiv-li), adv. In a quali- 
tative manner; with reference to quality; in 
quality. 
qualitied (kwol'i-tid), a. [< quality + -<Z 2 .] 
Disposed as to qualities or faculties ; furnished 
with qualities ; endowed. 
Besides all this, he was well qualitied. 
Chapman, Iliad, xiv. 104. 
A dainty hand, and small, to have such power 
Of help to dizzy height ; and qualitied 
Divinely. Harper's Mag., LXXV1II. 184. 
quality (kwol'i-ti), n. ; pi. qualities (-tiz). [< 
OF. qualite, F." qualite = Sp. cualidad, calidad 
= Pg. qualidade = It. qualitd,, < L. qualita(t-)s, 
property, nature, state, quality (Cicero, tr. Gr. 
7ro(6ri7f), < qualis, interrog., of what kind, of 
what sort; rel., of such a kind, of such sort, 
such as, as; indef., having some quality or 
other; < quis, fern. abl. qua, who, what: see 
who.'] 1. That from which anything can be 
said to be such or such ; a character expressi- 
ble by an adjective admitting degrees of com- 
parison, but not explicitly relative nor quan- 
titative : 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 modi- 
fled doctrine of Ramus was taught at Cambridge. Aris- 
totle makes quality one of his categories, or highest gen- 
era, and thereby distinguishes it absolutely from sub- 
stance, 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 distinc- 
tions ; 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 at- 
tributes of matter or those of mind qualities. 
There is somewhat contrarie unto qualitie, as vertue is 
contrarie unto vice, wit unto folie, manhode unto coward- 
4891 
Ise. 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 ac- 
cordingly. Wilson, Rule of Reason (1551). 
Our good or evil estate after death dependeth most upon 
the quality of our lives. Booker, Eccles. Polity, v. 46. 
Every sin, the oftener it is committed, the more it ac- 
qulreth in the quality of evil. 
Sir T. Browne, Religio Medici, 1. 42. 
Qualities do as well seem to belong to natural bodies 
generally considered as place, time, motion, and those 
other things. Boyle, Origin of Trms, Pref. 
The power to produce any idea in our mind, I call qual- 
ity 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. 
2. One of those characters of a person or thing 
which make it good or bad; a moral disposi- 
tion 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 char- 
acters were called qualities more often than bad ones. 
All the qualities that man 
Loves woman for. Shak., Cymbeline, v. 5. 168. 
You must now speak Sir John Falstaff fair ; 
Which swims against your stream of quality. 
Shale., 2 Hen. IV., v. 2. 34. 
To-night well wander through the streets, and note 
The qualities of people. Shak., A. and C., 1. 1. 64. 
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. 
3. A distinguished and characteristic excel- 
lence or superiority : as, this wine has quality. 
We find spontaneity, also, in the rhymes of Allingham, 
whose ' ' Mary Donnelly " and " The Fairies " have that in- 
tuitive grace called quality a grace which no amount of 
artifice can ever hope to produce. 
Stedman, Viet. 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 examina- 
tion, as interpreted by the sportsman. 
Dogs of Great Britain and America, p. 102. 
4. Degree of excellence or fineness; grade: as, 
the food was of inferior quality; the finest qual- 
ity of cloth. 5. A title, or designation of rank, 
profession, or the like. 
When ye will speake gluing euery person or thing be- 
sides his proper name a qualitie by way of addition, whe- 
ther it be of good or of bad, it is a figuratiue speach of audi- 
ble alteration. Puttenham, Arte of Eng. Poesie, p. 147. 
6. Bank; profession; occupation; function; 
character sustained. 
A man of such perfection 
As we do in our quality much want. 
Shale., T. G. of V., iv. 1. 58. 
I am weary of this trade of fortune-telling, and mean to 
give all over when I come Into England ; for it is a very 
ticklish quality. 
Fletcher (and another), Fair Maid of the Inn, v. 2. 
Kneeling is the sinner's posture ; if thou come hither in 
the quality of a sinner, . . . put thyself into the posture 
of a sinner, kneel. Donne, Sermons, vii. 
The saints would often leave their cells, 
And stroll about, but hide their quality, 
To try good people's hospitality. 
Swift, Baucis and Philemon. 
A marriage, at the Halifax parish church, between John 
Bateman, of Hipperholme, in that parish, and a Margaret 
Aldersleye (no address or quality given). 
N. and Q., 6th ser., X. 189. 
7. Persons of the same calling or fraternity. 
[Bare.] 
To thy strong bidding task 
Ariel and all his quality. Shak., Tempest, i. 2. 193. 
8. Nobility or gentry, either abstractly (as, 
persons of quality) or concretely (as, the qual- 
ity). But the former is obsolescent, the latter 
obsolete or now vulgar. 
Gentlemen of blood and quality. 
Shak., Hen. V., Iv. a 95. 
Two or three great silver flagons, made with inscriptions 
as gifts of the King to such and such persons of quality 
as did stay in town the late great plague, for the keeping 
things in order in the town. Pepys, Diary, III. 120. 
A nymph of quality admires our knight ; 
He marries, bows at Court, and grows polite. 
Pope, Moral Essays, iii. 385. 
quality 
9f. Character in respect to dryness or moisture, 
heat or cold, these being the elemental qualities 
from which it was supposed other properties, 
especially those of drugs and the temperaments, 
were compounded. 
The burning quality 
Of that fell poison. Shak., K. John, v. 7. 8. 
10f. Cause; occasion: an incorrect use. 
My brother Troilus lodges there to-night : 
Rouse him and give him note of our approach, 
With the whole quality wherefore. 
Shak., 1. and C., iv. 1. 44. 
11. In logic: (a) The character of a proposi- 
tion as affirmative or negative. [This use comes 
from Appuleius, a Latin writer of the second 
century.] 
How is a simple proposition divided according to qual- 
itie f Into an affirmative and negative proposition. 
Blundeville, Arte of Logicke, HI. i. 
(6) The character of apprehension as clear and 
distinct or obscure and confused. [This use is 
due to Kant.] 
In relation to their subject, that is, to the mind itself, 
they [concepts] are considered as standing in a higher or 
a lower degree of consciousness they are more or less 
clear, more or less distinct ; this ... is called their qual- 
ity. Sir W. Hamilton, Logic, viii. 
Accidental quality, a quality not distinguishing one 
species from another, but such that its subject might lose 
it without ceasing to be the same kind of substance. 
Active, alterative, or alterant quality, a quality by 
force of which a body acts : thus, heat is an active quality 
of fire. Affective quality. Same as affection, 6. Cate- 
gories of quality. See category. Contingent quality, 
a derivative quality not necessarily Involved in any primi- 
dent upon the presence of some unperceived thing, as its 
color upon the presence of the luminiferous ether. Ele- 
mental or first quality (tr. Gr. irparri Siaejwpij), one of 
the four qualities, hot and cold, moist and dry, which, 
according to Aristotle, distinguish the four elements, earth 
being dry and somewhat cold, water cold and somewhat 
moist, air moist and somewhat hot, fire hot and some- 
what dry. Of these qualities, hot and cold are active, 
moist and dry passive. The hot segregates different kinds 
of substance, the cold brings them together ; the moist 
has no definite boundary of its own, but readily receives 
one ; the dry has its own boundary, and does not easily re- 
ceive another. The effort of the Aristotelians constantly 
was to account for the properties of compound bodies by 
these first qualities, and this was especially done by phy- 
sicians in regard to drugs. Essential quality, a qual- 
ity the essential difference of some species. Imputed 
qualityt. Seeimpute. Intentional quality, a charac- 
ter the predication of which states a fact, but not the true 
mode of existence of that fact : thus, it is a fact that the 
celestial bodies are accelerated toward one another ; but, 
if action at a distance be not admitted, attraction is an 
intentional quality. Logical quality. See def. 10, above. 
Manifest, occult, original qualities. See the adjec- 
tives. Mechanical quality, a quality explicable upon 
the principles of mechanics. Fatible qualityt (tr. Gr. 
iroioTij! !r7|Tm7i\ one thatdirectlyaffectsoneof the senses. 
Predicamental quality, quality in the strict sense, in 
which it is oneof the ten predicaments or categories of Aris- 
totle. Primary quality, one of the mathematical char- 
acters of bodies, not strictly a quality, and not the object 
of any single sense exclusively. Locke enumerates these 
as solidity, extension, figure, motion or rest, and number. 
Primitive quality, aquality which cannot be conceived 
to be a result of other qualities. Quality of a sound, 
See timbre. Quality Of estate, in law, the manner in 
which the enjoyment of an estate is to be exercised while 
the right of enjoyment continues Real quality, (a) 
A quality really existing in a body, and not intentional. 
(6) A quality really existing in a body, and not imputed. 
Secondary quality, (a) A patible quality. (b) A de- 
rivative quafity. Secundo- primary quality. cnar - 
acter which in being known as it affects us is ipso facto 
known as it exists, as hardness. Sensible or sensile 
quality. Same as patible quality. Tactile quality, 
(a) A quality known by the touch. (b) A patible quality. 
The quality, persons of high rank, collectively. [Now 
vulgar.] 
I shall appear at the next masquerade dressed up in 
my feathers and plumage like an Indian prince, that the 
quality may see how pretty they will look in their travel- 
ling habits. Addison, Guardian, No. 112. 
The quality, as the upper classes in rural districts are 
designated by the lower. 
Trollope, Barchester Towers, xxxv. 
=Syn. 1 and 2. Quality, Property, Attribute, Accident, Char- 
acteristic, Character, Affection, Predicate, Mark, Difference, 
Diathesis, Determination. Quality is that which makes or 
helps to make a person or thing snch as he or it is. It is 
not universal, and in one popular sense it implies an ex- 
cellence or a defect. In popular speech a quality is intel- 
lectual or moral ; in metaphysics it may be also physical. 
A property is that which is viewed as peculiarly one's own, 
a peculiar quality. An attribute is a high and lofty char- 
acter : the attributes of God are natural, as omniscience, 
omnipotence, etc., and moral, as holiness, justice, mercy, 
etc. "Accident is an abbreviated expression for accidental 
or contingent quality." (Sir W. Hamilton, Metaph., vi.) 
Characteristic is not a term of logic or philosophy ; it stands 
for a personal, peculiar, or distinguishing quality : as, yel- 
low In skin, horn, milk, etc., is a characteristic of Guernsey 
cattle. Characteristics may be mental, moral, or physical. 
Character is the most general of these words ; a character 
is anything which is true of a subject. In another sense 
character (as a collective term) is the sum of the charac- 
teristics of a person or thing, especially the moral charac- 
teristics. The word always views them as making a unit 
