▪ I. quality, n.
(ˈkwɒlɪtɪ)
Forms: 4–7 -ite, 4–5 -itee, 6 -yte, -itye, 6–7 -itie, 7 quall-, 6– quality.
[ME. qualite, a. F. qualité (12th c.), ad. L. quālitāt-em (formed by Cicero to render Gr. ποιότης), f. quālis of what kind: see -ity.]
I. Of persons (in 1 and 2 occas. of animals).
1. a. Character, disposition, nature. Now rare.
| c 1290 S. Eng. Leg. I. 312/433 Þe planetes..ȝiuen him al-so qualite to don so and so. Ibid. 435 Swuch qualite..to beon lechor oþur schrewe. 1390 Gower Conf. I. Prol. 35 Thus of his propre qualite The man..Is as a world. 1535 Lyndesay Satyre 247, I knaw, be ȝour qualitie Ȝe want the gift of chastitie. 1553 Brende Q. Curtius 25 He vsed to euery nacion sondry exhortacions as he thought mete for their disposicions and qualitie. a 1578 Lindesay (Pitscottie) Chron. Scot. (S.T.S.) I. 10 Knawin[g] of wemen..That thay are not constant in thair quallitie. 1632 Lithgow Trav. vi. 298 A Dromidore, and Camel differ much in quality. 1639 Ford Lady's Trial iii. iii, He deserves no wife Of worthy quality, who dares not trust Her virtue in..any danger. 1847 Emerson Poems (1857) 94 They her heralds be, Steeped in her quality. 1873 Browning Red Cotton Night-Cap Country 268 Her quality was, caterpillar-like, To..select a leaf And..feed her fill. |
b. Capacity, ability, or skill, in some respect.
In
mod. use as an echo of
Shakes., who
prob. intended the word in sense 5.
| [1602 Shakes. Ham. ii. ii. 452 Come giue vs a tast of your quality: come, a passionate speech.] 1856 Kane Arct. Expl. I. ii. 24 Hans had given me a touch of his quality by spearing a bird on the wing. 1863 Doran Ann. Stage 369 Thomas..gave the stranger a hearty welcome,..asked for a taste of his quality. 1871 Browning Pr. Hohenst. 1165 Can't you contrive to operate at once,..to shew Your quality i' the world. |
c. Without article or
poss. pron.: Excellence of disposition; good natural gifts. (
Cf. 9 c.)
| 1606 Shakes. Tr. & Cr. iv. iv. 78 The Grecian youths are full of qualitie, Their louing well compos'd, with guift of nature. 1607 Heywood Wom. Killed ii. i, O, sir, disparage not your worth too much; You are full of quality and faire desert. 1889 Tyrwhitt in Universal Rev. 15 Feb. 251 One sharp temptation well resisted..shows real moral quality. 1894 Sir E. Wood in Daily News 1 Oct. 6/2 [Capt. Peel] had a singularly striking appearance, showing both in face and figure what is termed, in describing well-bred horses, as ‘quality’. |
2. a. A mental or moral attribute, trait, or characteristic; a feature of one's character;
† a habit.
| 1533 Frith Answ. More To Rdr., Wks. (1573) 4 A frende beholdeth all qualities and circumstaunces, his byrth, bringyng vp, and what feates hee hath done all hys lyfe long. 1551 R. Robinson tr. More's Utop. Ep. Cecil (Arb.) 15 Youre godlye dysposytyon, and vertuous qualytyes. 1602 Marston Ant. & Mel. iii. Wks. 1856 I. 43, I hate not man, but man's lewd qualities. 1689–90 Temple Ess. Heroic Virtue Wks. 1731 I. 208 Particular Qualities have been observed..in the same Families for several hundred Years, as Goodness, Clemency [etc.]. 1783 Cowper Valediction 31 In thee some virtuous qualities combine To fit thee for a nobler part. 1849 Macaulay Hist. Eng. vii. II. 163 Nature had largely endowed William with the qualities of a great ruler. 1853 J. H. Newman Hist. Sk. (1876) I. [II.] i. i. 30 The subtlety and perfidy, which..were the qualities of his..countrymen. |
b. An accomplishment or attainment.
| 1584 Lyly Campaspe v. i, Diog. What can thy sons do? Syl. You shall see their qualities. Dance, sirrah! 1607 Shakes. Timon i. i. 125, I haue bred her at my deerest cost In Qualities of the best. a 1674 Clarendon (J.), He had those qualities of horsemanship, dancing and fencing which accompany a good breeding. 1780 Cowper Progr. Err. 423 A just deportment, manners graced with ease,..Are qualities that seem to comprehend [etc.]. 1882 Daily Tel. 17 May, The fielding..justified the high reputation for this quality which the..colonial teams..have enjoyed. |
c. Law. A special or characteristic feature.
| 1818 Cruise Digest (ed. 2) I. 155 A tenant in tail..has eight qualities or privileges. |
3. a. Rank or position in (a) society. Now
rare.
| a 1400–50 Alexander 3303 Lo! so þe quele of qwistsumnes my qualite has changid. 1456 Sir G. Haye Law Arms (S.T.S.) 162 To consider..the state and the qualitee of the persouns. 1571 G. Buchanan Admonition (S.T.S.) 21 It may seame..that I..pas myne estait, being of sa meane qualitie. 1604 E. G[rimstone] D'Acosta's Hist. Indies v. viii. 350 Sometimes this minister had other different habites, according to the quallitie of the dead. 1676 Hobbes Iliad Pref. (1686) 2, Readers of Poesie (which are commonly Persons of the best Quality). 1726 De Foe Hist. Devil ii. v. (1840) 235 The priests of Apollo were sometimes of no mean quality. 1823 Scott Peveril i, A gentleman of middling quality. 1873 Browning Red Cotton Night-Cap Country 1528 What quality, what style and title, eh? |
| fig. 1791 Wolcott (P. Pindar) Remonstrance Wks. 1812 II. 453 Hunger..Is reckon'd now a fellow of bad quality: Not deem'd a gentleman. |
† b. concr. A body of persons of a certain rank.
Obs. rare—1.
| 1636 E. Dacres tr. Machiavel's Disc. Livy I. 16 It was compos'd only of two of these forenamed qualities, that is to say, of the Principality and Nobility. |
4. a. Nobility, high birth or rank, good social position; chiefly in
phr. man,
woman,
gentleman,
lady,
person,
people of quality. Now
arch.| 1579–80 North Plutarch (1595) 875 He had all the men of qualitie his sworne enemies. 1625 Bacon Ess., Trav. (Arb.) 523 Let him..procure Recommendation, to some person of Quality. 1671 Lady M. Bertie in 12th Rep. Hist. MSS. Comm. App. v. 22 There are no men of quality but the Duke of Monmouth; all the rest are gentlemen. 1699 M. Lister Journey to Paris 180 A Lady of Quality, Madam M―..askt me, What I had seen in Paris that most pleased me. 1712 [see people n. 6 b]. 1722 De Foe Col. Jack (1840) 18 My new friend was a thief of quality, and a pickpocket above the ordinary rank. 1771 Mackenzie Man. Feel. xl. (1803) 85 The count, for he was of quality, was solicitous to return the obligation. 1849 Macaulay Hist. Eng. viii. II. 273 Many persons of quality sate the whole day in their carriages. 1871 Morley Vauvenargues in Crit. Misc. Ser. i. (1878) 9 High enough to command the admiration of people of quality. 1922 M. Arlen Piracy ii. i. 69 I'd forgotten that such a phrase was ever made by fine men for fine women—a woman of quality! |
b. concr. People of good social position. Now
dial. or rather
arch.| 1693 Humours Town 114 Walk Bare-headed to his Master's Daughter, in imitation of Quality. 1706 Estcourt Fair Examp. v. i, Did not you tell me..that you was acquainted with all the Quality. 1712 P. Metcalf Life St. Winefride (1917) 82 He and his Son..received the Holy Sacrament of Baptism, at which the greatest Quality of that County were pleased to stand Patrines. 1753 Richardson Sir C. Grandison III. ii. (1781) 15, I have looked out among the quality for a future husband for her. 1769 Wesley in Wks. 1872 III. 370 A large company of Quality (as they called them) came. 1824 Byron Juan xvi. lxiv, She was country born and bred And knew no better..Than to wax white—for blushes are for quality. 1843 Lever J. Hinton xl, I was standing..among all the grand generals and the quality. 1853 Mrs. Gaskell Cranford xiv. 270 He's dazed at being called on to speak before quality. 1889 John Bull 2 Mar. 142/2 He was fond of quality, and quality was very fond o' him. 1894 ‘Mark Twain’ in Century Mag. Feb. 550 He wuz the highest quality in dis whole town—ole Virginny stock. Fust famblies, he wuz. 1904 M. Corelli God's Good Man (ed. 2) xxii. 415 The quality don't seem to care for no one 'cept theirselves. 1961 Times 25 Apr. 20/1 In the period of his second marriage Opie..never lacked sitters among the ‘quality’. 1978 M. Kenyon Deep Pocket xiv. 184 A grouse-shoot, lad... It's a country sport for the quality. |
† 5. a. Profession, occupation, business,
esp. that of an actor.
b. Fraternity; those of the same profession;
esp. actors as a body.
Obs.| 1500–20 Dunbar Poems xxxiv. 88 The rest of craftis gryt aithis swair..Ilk ane into thair qualitie. 1591 Shakes. Two Gent. iv. i. 58 A Linguist, and a man of such perfection, As we doe in our quality much want. 1603 J. Davies Microcosmos 215 Players, I love yee, and your Qualitie. 1625 Fletcher Fair Maid of Inn v. ii, I am weary of this trade of fortune-telling,..it is a very ticklish quality. 1626 Massinger Rom. Actor i. iii, In thee, as being the chief of thy profession, I do accuse the quality of treason. 1633 in A. W. Ward Hist. Dram. Lit. II. 324 It may serve..for the improvement of the quality, which hath received some brushings of late. |
c. Party, side.
Obs. rare—1.
| 1596 Shakes. 1 Hen. IV, iv. iii. 36 Because you are not of our qualitie, But stand against vs like an Enemie. |
6. a. Title, description, character, capacity. Freq. in
phr. in (the) quality of. Now
rare.
| a 1300 Cursor M. 26682 Man agh to telle hir qualite, sib or freind or quat sco be. a 1626 Bacon Advice to Villiers (J.), The attorney of the dutchy of Lancaster partakes of both qualities, partly of a judge..and partly of an attorney general. a 1648 Ld. Herbert Hen. VIII (1683) 38 Maximilian..came to the King, in the quality of his Soldier. 1664 Butler Hud. ii. iii. 338 He serv'd his Master In quality of Poetaster. 1711 Addison Spect. No. 127 ¶1 Such Packets as I receive under the Quality of Spectator. 1734 tr. Rollin's Anc. Hist. (1827) IX. 66 They paid respect to his quality of deputy. 1821 Scott Kenilw. xxx, Leicester..rode on her Majesty's right hand..in quality of her host. 1864 D. G. Mitchell Sev. Stor. 82 To understand that I had come in the professed quality of Consul. |
† b. A part or character (acted).
Obs. rare—1.
| 1566 W. Adlington Apuleius 109 When the people was desirous to see me play qualities, they caused the gates to be shutte, and such as entred in shoulde pay. |
II. Of things.
7. a. An attribute, property, special feature or characteristic.
primary quality,
secondary quality, etc.
qualities: see the
adjs. Of a ship: (see
quot. 1867).
| 1340 Ayenb. 153 To þe bodye of man comeþ alle eueles uor þe destempringe of þise uour qualites oþer of þise uour humours. 1533 Elyot Cast. Helthe (1539) 33 a, But nowe to the qualities of water. 1551 Turner Herbal i. A iv b, The qualites of it answer nothing unto the qualyties of wormwode pontyke in Galene. 1604 E. G[rimstone] D'Acosta's Hist. Indies vi. xiii. 459 According to the qualities and wealth of the Countrie. 1671 R. Bohun Wind 165 The judgment to be made concerning the Qualitys of Winds..is very various and fallible. 1725 Watts Logic i. iii. §4 Ideas, with Regard to their Qualities,..are either clear and distinct, or obscure and confused [etc.]. 1854 L. Lloyd Scandinavian Adv. I. 231 The eatable qualities of the Bothnian salmon. 1867 Smyth Sailor's Word-bk., Qualities, the register of the ship's trim, sailing, stowage, &c., all of which are necessary to her behaviour. 1872 Ruskin Eagle's Nest §236 Every high quality of art consists either in some expression of what is decent..or of what is bright. |
† b. A manner, style. (
Cf. 9 b.)
Obs. rare.
| 1596 Shakes. Merch. V. iii. ii. 6 Hate counsailes not in such a qualitie. 1651 Fuller's Abel Rediv., Cowper (1867) II. 307 The parishioners..built and adorned the church in as good a quality as any round about it. |
† c. A habit; a power or faculty.
Obs. rare.
| 1647 Fuller Good Th. in Worse T. (1841) 98 Jordan had a quality in the first month to overflow all his banks. 1663 Gerbier Counsel b iij a, If it had a speaking quality, your Grace would hear its..Alembick sing the Gold its joy. |
† d. Concretely: A substance of a certain nature; an essence.
Obs. rare.
| 1704 Swift Batt. Bk. Misc. (1711) 257 An atramentous Quality, of most malignant Nature, was seen to distil from his Lips. 1823 J. Badcock Dom. Amusem. 21 The wood..throws out its volatile qualities, aquæous and acidulous, into the respective tubes. |
8. a. The nature, kind, or character (
of something). Now restricted to cases in which there is comparison (expressed or implied) with other things of the same kind; hence, the degree or grade of excellence, etc. possessed by a thing.
† in the quality of: (
cf. 6).
spec. in
phr. the quality of life.
| c 1374 Chaucer Troylus iii. Prol. 31 Ye knowe al þilke couered qualite Of þing which þat folk on wondren so. c 1400 Mandeville (Roxb.) xiii. 59 A man may gyffe no couenable penaunce bot if he knawe þe qualitee and þe quantitee of þe synne. 1509 Hawes Past. Pleas. xxiii. (Percy Soc.) 106 After the qualyte it doth take effecte. 1570 Dee Math. Pref. 8 An other liquid Medicine I haue: whose Qualitie is heate, in the first degree. 1650 Baxter Saints' R. i. iv. (1662) 22 It is so little I know of mine own soul, either its quiddity or quality. 1697 Dryden Virg. Georg. iii. 237 This flying Plague (to mark its quality;) Oestros the Grecians call. 1794 J. Hutton Philos. Light, etc. 272 This principle of fire moves, in the quality of light, with the most amazing velocity. 1841–4 Emerson Ess., Prudence Wks. (Bohn) I. 95 There is more difference in the quality of our pleasures than in the amount. 1842 Miss Mitford in L'Estrange Life (1870) III. ix. 142 The perfection of cunning is to conceal its own quality. 1879 G. C. Harlan Eyesight viii. 114 It is on account of the quality, rather than the size, of English print, that it is usually so much pleasanter to read than American. 1943 J. B. Priestley Daylight on Saturday xxxi. 253 The plans already..maturing that would give all our citizens more security, better opportunities, and a nobler quality of life. 1955 E. Sevareid Newsmakers (CBS Radio broadcast script) 30 Nov. (Sevareid MS. Collection, Library of Congress) 6 He [sc. Adlai Stevenson] seems disturbed about the quality of American life, when most politicians measure it only in quantity. [1955 A. Stevenson Let. 13 Dec. (Sevareid MS. Collection, Library of Congress), I have..read Sevareid Newsmakers CBS Radio, November 30, 1955... Your summarization of my anxieties about America and its quality was the tonic I needed for some more utterances along that line.] 1956 A. Schlesinger in N.Y. Times Mag. 4 Mar. 60/3 The liberal's belief in working for change does..mean that he feels history can never stand still, that social change can better the quality of people's lives and happiness, and that the margin of change, however limited, is worth the effort. 1969 Guardian 5 Aug. 8/1 A Government which says it concerns itself with the quality of life..cannot be without a broadcasting policy. 1972 J. Mann Mrs Knox's Profession ii. 7 Vic was going to make a corner in housing, and the quality of life, which he had..worked out would be closest to the hearts of his constituents. 1977 M. Edelman Polit. Lang. viii. 151 The consequence is a decline in the quality of life, springing from a lowering of real income. 1979 Nature 24 May 311/2 Monitoring of trace constituents of the atmosphere is becoming increasingly important because of the implications on the quality of life of growing concentrations of several compounds which, after industrial use, are released to the atmosphere. |
† b. Nature, with reference to origin; hence, cause, occasion.
Obs. rare.
| 1606 Shakes. Tr. & Cr. iv. i. 44 Giue him note of our approach, With the whole quality whereof, I feare We shall be much vnwelcome. 1607 ― Timon iii. vi. 117 Know you the quality of Lord Timons fury? |
c. ellipt. for
quality newspaper (see sense 13 below).
| 1970 Guardian Weekly 25 July 11 The ‘qualities’..need to earn a greater percentage of their income from advertising than the ‘populars’, which rely more heavily on mass sales. 1976 Times 18 Mar. 4/1 The ‘qualities’ are the Daily and Sunday Telegraph, Financial Times, Guardian, Observer, The Times and Sunday Times. 1977 Vole I. 26/2 Many of the qualities' journalists are good writers. |
9. Without article:
a. That aspect of things under which they are considered in thinking or speaking of their nature, condition, or properties.
The notion of quality includes all the attributes of a thing, except those of relation and quantity. ‘Quality’ is the third of the Aristotelian categories.
| 1533 Elyot Cast. Helthe (1539) 16 b, Qualitie..is the state thereof, as Hotte or cold, moist or dry. 1656 Stanley Hist. Philos. I. v. 70 If quality be void of matter, it must likewise be void of corporeity. 1727 Chambers Cycl. s.v., The antient school-philosophers distinguish quality in the general..into essential and accidental. 1829 Jas. Mill Hum. Mind (1869) II. xiv. ii. 60 Quality is used as the generical name of every thing in objects, for which a separate notation is required. 1884 tr. Lotze's Metaph. 45 The question is renewed as to the actual essence which..lies behind this surface of Quality. |
b. Gram. Manner of action (
cf. 7 b), as denoted by an adverb; chiefly in
phr. adverb of quality.
| 1530 Palsgr. Introd. 38 The frenche men..forme theyr adverbes of qualite by addynge to of ment. Ibid. 144 Some [adverbs] betoken qualite, and serve to declare..howe a dede is done. a 1637 B. Jonson Eng. Gram. i. xxi, All adverbs of quality..being formed from nouns, for the most part, by adding ly. 1845 Stoddart in Encycl. Metrop. (1847) I. 122/1 There is no difference in grammatical use between..an adverb of quantity, and an adverb of quality. 1872 Morris Engl. Accid. xiv. 193. |
c. Peculiar excellence or superiority. (
Cf. 1 c.)
| 1874 Tyrwhitt Sketch. Club 255 Quality of colour means purity or truth of hue. 1891 Speaker 2 May 533/1 The book..has..more quality and distinction than four-fifths of the novels which come under our notice. |
10. In special uses (of senses 8 and 9).
a. Logic. Of propositions: The condition of being affirmative or negative. Of concepts: Comparative clearness or distinctness.
| 1594 Blundevil Arte Logicke iii. i. (Cent.), How is a simple proposition divided according to qualitie? Into an affirmative and negative proposition. 1697 tr. Burgersdicius his Logic i. xxx. 117 In Regard of Quality, it is that an Enunciation is divided..into Affirming and Denying. 1725 Watts Logic (1726) 156 If two Universals differ in Quality they are Contraries. 1837–8 Sir W. Hamilton Lect. Logic ix. (1860) I. 158 It is this perfection or imperfection which constitutes the logical Quality of a concept. 1843 Mill Logic ii. ii. §1 (1856) 189 What are called the quantity and quality of the propositions. 1864 Bowen Logic v. 120 We thus ascertain the Quality of the Judgment, or whether it is affirmative or negative. |
b. Law. Of an estate: The manner in which it is to be held or enjoyed.
| 1818 Cruise Digest (ed. 2) II. 354 The alteration in the particular estate, which would destroy a contingent remainder, must amount to an alteration in its quantity, and not in its quality. 1841 Penny Cycl. XIX. 46/1. |
c. Physics. That which distinguishes sounds quantitatively the same; timbre.
| 1865 Q. Jrnl. Sc. 592 Though [certain sounds are] the same for musical purposes, in all other respects the quality is different. 1872 Huxley Phys. vii. 183 The quality of a voice—treble, bass, tenor, &c. 1881 Broadhouse Mus. Acoustics 77 The most uncultivated ear would perceive a difference of quality. |
d. Engin. The proportion by weight of vapour in a mixture of vapour and the parent liquid.
| 1898 H. A. Golding Theta-Phi Diagram iv. 52 (in figure) Dryness fraction or quality curve. 1937 Croft & Purdy Steam Boilers (ed. 2) iii. 24 The quality of steam in average practice is..from about 97 to 99 per cent. 1977 G. F. Hewitt in Butterworth & Hewitt Two-Phase Flow & Heat Transfer ii. 24 Data on flow patterns for a particular geometry and fluid pair can be plotted directly in terms of the velocities, flow rates, etc. of the phases. Alternatively, it is often convenient for a single-component fluid to plot the results in terms of mass flux G and quality x. |
e. Radiology. The penetrating power of a beam of X-rays.
| 1903 Pusey & Caldwell Pract. Applic. Röntgen Rays ii. v. 309 The quality of the rays and their intensity vary greatly. 1928 B. J. Leggett Theory & Pract. Radiol. II. vi. 162 The more or less exact measurement of the quality of X-radiation is of importance in all branches of radiotherapy. 1968 M. B. Hollander Ultrasoft X Rays i. 3 Most articles published since about 1940 have stated quality in terms of half-value layer. 1972 Barnes & Rees Conc. Textbk. Radiotherapy vii. 154 The choice of the radiation quality is determined by the site and the size of the lesion. |
f. The degree to which reproduced sound resembles the original; fidelity.
| 1913 G. F. Rowell Hints about Gramophone 9 He revels in the loudest records he can buy, and so long as the noise is satisfactory the musical quality does not trouble him in the least. 1938 A. E. Greenlees Amplification & Distribution of Sound xvi. 230 The sales literature of manufacturers will provide much useful information as to what may be expected in the way of quality of reproduction. 1971 J. Earl Pickups & Loudspeakers i. 9 The tape element involved in the production of a disc record detracts very little from the overall quality these days. |
11. A particular class, kind, or grade of anything, as determined by its quality.
| 1835 Ure Philos. Manuf. 324, 2s. 5d. for spinning the same quality. 1866 G. Macdonald Ann. Q. Neighb. xiii. (1878) 253 A quality of dialogue which indicated thought. |
III. † 12. = qualification 1.
Sc. Obs. rare.
| 1622 Burgh Rec. Aberdeen (Spald. Cl.) II. 375 The said Mr. James Ross..acceptit of the said stipend with the qualitie and conditioun aboue mentioned. 1714 W. Forbes Jrnl. Sess. Pref. 7 Advocates admitted with a quality that they should not take in hand to plead in any..difficult cause without..assistance. |
IV. 13. a. attrib. and
Comb. (chiefly sense 4), as
quality-acquaintance,
quality-air,
quality-blood,
quality-end,
quality-friend,
quality gentleman,
quality horse,
quality lady,
quality living,
quality-pride,
quality-white, etc.;
quality-like,
quality-mad,
adjs.; (sense 8)
quality mark;
quality-tested adj.; (sense 9 c)
quality audience,
quality food,
quality note,
quality producer;
spec. = of a high cultural standard,
esp. of newspapers, as
quality magazine,
quality newspaper,
quality paper,
quality press,
quality programme,
quality publisher,
quality Sunday, etc.;
quality-binding, a kind of worsted tape for binding carpets (
Jam. 1808);
quality circle, a group of employees (
orig. in Japanese industry) who meet to consider ways of resolving problems and improving production in their organization;
quality control, the maintenance of the desired quality in a manufactured product,
esp. by means of critical examination of a proportion of the output and its comparison with the specification; also
transf.;
freq. attrib.; hence
quality controller, one whose responsibility this is;
quality factor = Q III. 3.
| 1751 Smollett Per. Pic. (1779) III. lxxxii. 274 Peregrine found some ladies of his quality-acquaintance. |
| 1701 Farquhar Sir H. Wildair ii. i. Wks. (Rtldg.) 545, I thought something was the matter; I wanted of quality-air. |
| 1938 Time 10 Oct. 43/1 It has a fairly large and very vociferous ‘quality’ audience. |
| 1837 Carlyle Fr. Rev. II. ii. ii, Young..men, with quality-blood in them, poisoned with quality-pride. |
| 1980 Time 28 Jan. 65/2 On the premise that the workers often know best, the firms are forming ‘quality circles’. These are groups of five to 13 employees who volunteer to gather for perhaps an hour each week, on company time, in brainstorming sessions that focus on what can be done to improve output per hour worked. 1984 Listener 21 June 13/2 The current vogue for ‘quality circles’ à la japonaise is no more than recognition of the need..for harnessing the creativity, commitment and energy of ordinary managers and workers. |
| 1935 E. S. Pearson (title) The application of statistical methods to industrial standardisation and quality control. 1943 R. E. Wareham in J. F. Young Materials & Processes xviii. 589 Quality control methods are based on the laws of probability and statistics. 1968 Brit. Med. Bull. XXIV. 220/1 Examination of the batch mean has proved to be one of the most valuable quality-control measures available. 1971 Physics Bull. July 383/3 Specialist papers were less favoured for the conference and there appeared to be a need for better ‘quality control’ of these. 1977 P. Johnson Enemies of Society xi. 158 This forced academic growth leads to an inevitable collapse of quality-control. 1978 Jrnl. R. Soc. Arts. CXXVI. 670/2 The result was anarchism, disorder, inadequate production planning, cost and quality control and performance rating. |
| 1972 M. Jones Life on Dole ii. vii. 126 His next employer was Hoover... He became a quality controller. |
| 1819 Metropolis III. 149 The quality-end of the town. |
| 1947 Electronic Circuits & Tubes i. 17 The ratio of the series reactance to the series resistance of a reactor is defined as Q, its quality factor. 1967 Condon & Odishaw Handbk. Physics (ed. 2) iv. vii. 108/1 Frequently the inverse of the loss tangent, the quality factor Q of the dielectric,..serves as the figure of merit, especially in waveguide problems. 1971 Nature 24 Dec. 461/1 Recent measurements of the quality factor, Q, for mechanical vibrations generated by dropping parts of the Apollo lunar module and by moonquakes indicate that the Q of the Moon for these vibrations is of the order of 3,000. |
| 1961 Wine & Food Winter 240 Shoppers should..be well aware of the quality food that comes from their own farmers and growers. |
| 1751 Smollett Per. Pic. (1779) II. lxviii. 238 The influence of Peregrine's new quality-friends. |
| 1908 J. M. Sullivan Criminal Slang 1 A quality gentleman, a gentleman by birth and education. |
| 1891 Field 7 Mar. 334/2 Quite a quality horse is Gratian. |
| 1706 Estcourt Fair Examp. i. i. 10 Your Quality Lady, when she speaks, 'tis thus. |
| 1594 Carew Huarte's Exam. Wits vi. (1596) 77 Neither the vnderstanding, nor any other accident, can be qualiti⁓like. |
| 1784 R. Bage Barham Downs I. 233 My Lady's passion for quality living. |
| 1768 Woman of Honor I. 134 She is so stark quality-mad. |
| 1941 Times 22 May (Advt.), Issued by The National Magazine Company Limited..who publish such quality magazines as ‘Good Housekeeping’, ‘Harper's Bazaar’, ‘Connoisseur’, etc. |
| 1954 W. Faulkner Fable 352 The quality-mark and warrant of man's immortality: his deathless folly. 1959 New Statesman 14 Mar. 362/3 Independent consumer guidance—i.e., journals, quality marks, labelling, etc.—is, they say, unnecessary because advertising already provides adequate information about goods. 1971 Gloss. Terms Materials Handling (B.S.I.) v. 32 Quality mark, a mark which appears on some of the links of higher tensile or alloy steel chain, defining its grade. |
| 1956 English Summer 48 Quality newspapers decline alarmingly, serious journals go bankrupt. |
| 1961 Punch 11 Jan. 88/2 Whitbreads, for example, is the beer most favoured by forward-looking Pops [i.e. Pop People]. The advertising strikes a ‘quality’ note. |
| 1962 Listener 11 Oct. 569/2 You can see such reporting even in the so-called quality papers. |
| 1960 Quality press [see quality programme below]. |
| 1837 Quality pride [see quality blood above]. |
| 1936 Economist 8 Feb. 314/1 Firms in..country towns—whose recent progress has been based on lower wage scales than those paid by the ‘quality’ producers in the leading centres. |
| 1960 Guardian 9 Dec. 12/6 Ideally..the union would like to see..‘quality’ programmes analogous to the ‘quality’ press. |
| 1961 Ibid. 20 Oct. 11/4 The struggle between the commercial and the quality publisher is fierce. |
| 1961 Punch 11 Jan. 86/3 When may a young man be said to have arrived?.. Having his name used as a pun in a quality Sunday paper's erudite crossword puzzle. 1974 Times 22 May 20/6 The quality dailies have done rather better than the popular journals... Quality Sundays are up 23 per cent. |
| 1938 Encycl. Brit. Bk. of Year 636/2 Guaranteed quality-tested rayon fabrics. 1974 Times 15 Aug. (India Suppl.) p. viii/3 (Advt.), India's cottons..are quality tested. |
| 1966 K. L. Morgan in A. Dundes Mother Wit (1973) 603/1, I never questioned the implication that..my white ancestors were ‘quality’ whites. |
b. Passing into
adj.| 1962 R. Williams Brit. in Sixties: Communications iii. 29 The division of space between advertising and editorial material is not, then, governed by whether a paper is ‘quality’ or ‘popular’. 1972 Britain 1972 (Central Office of Information) xviii. 429 The national newspapers..fall into two categories: popular and quality. |
Hence
ˈqualityless a., having no quality or qualities;
ˈqualityship, social position (
nonce-wd.).
| 1859 Mozley Ess., Indian Convers. (1878) II. 313 Brahm is a motionless, characterless, qualityless, colourless essence. 1865 Dublin University Mag. I. 6 He dressed with regard to his qualityship. 1893 J. Orr Chr. View God & W. iv. 146 An absolutely qualityless matter..is unthinkable. |
▸
quality assurance n. the maintenance of a desired level of quality in a service or a manufactured product,
esp. by means of attention to every stage of the process of delivery or manufacture; abbreviated
QA;
cf. quality control n.| 1940 Jrnl. Amer. Statist. Assoc. 35 (Centenary Membership Directory) 24/1 Dodge, Harold F., Quality Results Engineer, *Quality Assurance Department, Bell Telephone Laboratories, Inc. 1960 H. C. Thomson & L. A. Mayo Ordnance Dept.: Procurem. & Supply xiv. 329 One of the first steps taken..was to enlist the services of George D. Edwards, director of quality assurance of the Bell Telephone Laboratories, as consultant to the Ordnance Department. 1976 Amer. Jrnl. Psychiatry Jan. 48/2 An approach to quality assurance based on ‘laundry lists’ of services matched to problems has been criticized as being relevant only to improving the process of care and possibly irrelevant to improving the outcome of care. 1990 T. G. Wreghitt & P. Morgan-Capner ELISA in Clin. Microbiol. Lab. iii. 37 Quality assurance can be considered as the broad plan, within which the essential processes of quality control function to ensure that the plan is being adequately implemented. 1998 Educ. Rev. 12 ii. 39/1 Schools need a variety of user-friendly, reliable and valid data on the progress and development of all their pupils to guide self-evaluation and quality assurance efforts,. |
▸
quality time n. orig. U.S. time spent in a worthwhile or dedicated manner;
esp. time in which one's child, partner, etc., receives one's undivided attention.
| 1972 Los Angeles Times 25 Aug. iv. 3 She is a firm believer in ‘*quality time for each child’. Thus while in Europe..she might take a sidetrip to London museums with Liz Beth or a day sight-seeing alone with Phillip. 1977 Business Week 18 Apr. 158/2 The time they spend with their children is ‘quality time, not quantity time’, say the mothers, echoing the claim of many executive fathers, and the children's home life is frequently more stimulating. 1987 Money (Electronic ed.) 1 Apr. Busy spouses make appointments to spend quality time or even to have sex. 1995 N. Blincoe Acid Casuals xviii. 135 She reached inside her bag for her compact, intending to spend some quality time with her cosmetics. 2005 Z. Smith On Beauty 61 So here they were, a protesting silence filling the car: against Mozart, against outings generally, against having to take a taxi, against the hour's drive from Wellington into Boston, against the very concept of quality time. |
▪ II. quality, v. rare.
Also 6
qualit-.
[f. prec.] trans. † a. To furnish with a quality or qualities.
Obs. b. To rate at a certain quality or value.
| 1579 J. Jones Preserv. Bodie & Soule Ep. Ded. 2 By these three they be all qualited. Motion ingendreth, Light shapeth and sheweth, Influence disposeth or qualiteth. 1813 Batchelor Agric. Surv. Bedfordsh. 236 The warren contained 878 acres, much of which was qualitied at 9s. to 10s. per acre. |