DIMENSIONS: FORM / Guide
A characteristic, innate or acquired, which, in some particular, determines the nature and behavior of a person or thing
R E F E R E N C E S
Quality 1. a characteristic, property, or attribute. 2. character or nature, as belonging to or distinguishing a thing: the quality of a sound. 3. character with respect to fineness or grade of excellence: food of poor quality. 4. high grade; great excellence. 5. an accomplishment or attainment. 6. high social position or status; a man of quality. 7. Acoustics. the texture of a tone, dependent on its overtone content, which distinguishes it from others of the same pitch and loudness. 8. Phonet. the tonal color, or timbre, that characterizes a particular vowel sound. 9. Logic, the character of a proposition as affirmative or negative. -adj. 10. of or having superior quality: quality paper. [ME qualité < OF < L quálitás = auál(is) of what sort + -itas -ITY]
-Syn. 1. trait, character, feature. QUALITY, ATTRIBUTE, PROPERTY agree in meaning a particular characteristic [of a person or thing]. A QUALITY is a characteristic, innate or acquired, which, in some particular, determines the nature and behavior of a person or thing: naturalness as a quality: the quality of meat. An ATTRIBUTE was originally a quality attributed, usually to a person or something personified; more recently it has meant a fundamental or innate characteristic: an attribute of God; attributes of a logical mind.. PROPERTY applies only to things; it means a characteristic belonging specifically in the constitution of, or found [invariably] in, the behavior of a thing: physical properties of uranium or of limestone. 3. nature, kind, grade, sort, conditon.
[Urdang, Laurence, ed. Random House Dictionary of The English Language. New York: Random House, 1968.]
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