English▸ noun
(plural qualities)
1 [mass noun] the standard of something as measured against other things of a similar kind; the degree of excellence of something:
an improvement in product quality
[count noun] these colleges provide a better quality of education.
▪ general excellence of standard or level:
a masterpiece for connoisseurs of quality.
▪ archaic high social standing:
commanding the admiration of people of quality.
▪ [treated as plural] archaic people of high social standing:
he's dazed at being called on to speak before quality.
2 a distinctive attribute or characteristic possessed by someone or something:
he shows strong leadership qualities
the plant's aphrodisiac qualities.
▪ Phonetics the distinguishing characteristic or characteristics of a speech sound.
▪ Astrology any of three properties (cardinal, fixed, or mutable), representing types of movement, that a sign of the zodiac can possess.
– ORIGIN Middle English (in the senses ‘character, disposition’ and ‘particular property or feature’): from Old French qualite, from Latin qualitas (translating Greek poiotēs), from qualis ‘of what kind, of such a kind’.