Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English homepage

Date: 1200-1300
Language: Old French
Origin: qualité, from Latin qualitas, from qualis 'of what kind'

quality

1 noun
     
qual‧i‧ty1 S1 W1 plural qualities
1 [uncountable and countable] how good or bad something is
air/water etc quality
The recent hot, humid weather is affecting air quality.
quality of
the quality of research into the disease
be of poor/good/high etc quality
Much of the land was of poor quality.
Use only high quality ingredients.
2 [countable usually plural] something that people may have as part of their character, for example courage or intelligence [↪ characteristic]:
He shows strong leadership qualities.
the personal qualities necessary to be a successful salesman
quality of
the qualities of honesty and independence
3 [countable] something that is typical of one thing and makes it different from other things, for example size, colour etc:
the drug's addictive quality
quality of
the physical and chemical qualities of the rock
4 [uncountable] a high standard:
his pride in the quality of his craftsmanship
wines of quality
5

quality of life

how good or bad your life is, shown for example by whether or not you are happy, healthy, able to do what you want etc:
drugs that improve the quality of life for very ill patients
Definition from the Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English
Advanced Learner's Dictionary.

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