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qualify - 6 dictionary results

qual⋅i⋅fy

  [kwol-uh-fahy] verb, -fied, -fy⋅ing.
Use qualify in a Sentence
–verb (used with object)
1. to provide with proper or necessary skills, knowledge, credentials, etc.; make competent: to qualify oneself for a job.
2. to modify or limit in some way; make less strong or positive: to qualify an endorsement.
3. Grammar. to modify.
4. to make less violent, severe, or unpleasant; moderate; mitigate.
5. to attribute some quality or qualities to; characterize, call, or name: She cannot qualify his attitude as either rational or irrational.
6. to modify or alter the flavor or strength of: He qualified his coffee with a few drops of brandy.
7. Law. to certify as legally competent.
–verb (used without object)
8. to be fitted or competent for something.
9. to get authority, license, power, etc., as by fulfilling required conditions, taking an oath, etc.
10. Sports. to demonstrate the required ability in an initial or preliminary contest: He qualified in the trials.
11. to fire a rifle or pistol on a target range for a score high enough to achieve a rating of marksman, sharpshooter, or expert.
12. Military. to pass a practical test in gunnery.
13. Law. to perform the actions necessary to acquire legal power or capacity: By filing a bond and taking an oath he qualified as executor.
Origin:
1525–35; < ML quālificāre, equiv. to L quāl(is) of what sort + -ificāre -ify

Related forms:
qual⋅i⋅fi⋅ca⋅to⋅ry  [kwol-uh-fi-kuh-tawr-ree, -tohr-ee] , adjective
qual⋅i⋅fy⋅ing⋅ly, adverb

Synonyms:
1. fit, suit, adapt, prepare, equip. 2. narrow, restrict. See modify. 4. meliorate, soften, temper, reduce, diminish. 5. designate, label.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
Cite This Source Link To qualify
qual·i·fy   (kwŏl'ə-fī')   
v.   qual·i·fied, qual·i·fy·ing, qual·i·fies

v.   tr.
  1. To describe by enumerating the characteristics or qualities of; characterize.
  2. To make competent or eligible for an office, position, or task.
    1. To declare competent or capable; certify.
    2. To make legally capable; license.
  4. To modify, limit, or restrict, as by giving exceptions.
  5. To make less harsh or severe; moderate. See Synonyms at moderate.
  6. Grammar To modify the meaning of (a noun, for example).
v.   intr.
  1. To be or become qualified.
  2. To reach the later stages of a selection process or contest by competing successfully in earlier rounds.

[From French qualifier (from Old French) and from Middle English qualifien, to specify the time and place of a document's execution, both from Medieval Latin quālificāre, to attribute a quality to : Latin quālis, of such a kind; see quality + Latin -ficāre, -fy.]
qual'i·fi'a·ble adj.
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Qualify

Qual"i*fy\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Qualified; p. pr. & vb. n. Qualifying.] [F. qualifier, LL. qualificare, fr. L. qualis how constituted, as + -ficare (in comp.) to make. See Quality, and -Fy.]

1. To make such as is required; to give added or requisite qualities to; to fit, as for a place, office, occupation, or character; to furnish with the knowledge, skill, or other accomplishment necessary for a purpose; to make capable, as of an employment or privilege; to supply with legal power or capacity.

He had qualified himself for municipal office by taking the oaths to the sovereigns in possession. --Macaulay.

2. To give individual quality to; to modulate; to vary; to regulate.

It hath no larynx . . . to qualify the sound. --Sir T. Browne.

3. To reduce from a general, undefined, or comprehensive form, to particular or restricted form; to modify; to limit; to restrict; to restrain; as, to qualify a statement, claim, or proposition.

4. Hence, to soften; to abate; to diminish; to assuage; to reduce the strength of, as liquors.

I do not seek to quench your love's hot fire, But qualify the fire's extreme rage. --Shak.

5. To soothe; to cure; -- said of persons. [Obs.]

In short space he has them qualified. --Spenser.

Syn: To fit; equip; prepare; adapt; capacitate; enable; modify; soften; restrict; restrain; temper.

Qualify

Qual"i*fy\, v. i. 1. To be or become qualified; to be fit, as for an office or employment.

2. To obtain legal power or capacity by taking the oath, or complying with the forms required, on assuming an office.
Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc.
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Language Translation for : qualify
Spanish: capacitar, reunir las condiciones,
German: qualifizieren,
Japanese: 資格を与える
More Translations »

qualify 
1465, "to invest with a quality," from M.L. qualificare "attribute a quality to," from L. qualis "of what sort" + facere "to make" (see factitious). Sense of "be fit for a job" first appeared 1588. Qualification in the sense of "limitation, restriction" is from 1543.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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Main Entry: qual·i·fy
Pronunciation: 'kwä-l&-"fI
Function: verb
Inflected Forms: -fied; -fy·ing
transitive verb 1 : to limit or modify in some way
2 : to make or consider eligible or fit qualified him as an expert witness>
3 : to issue a certificate or license to intransitive verb 1 : to meet certain requirements or criteria <qualify for a tax credit>
2 : to acquire competent power or capacity qualified as a lawyer>
Merriam-Webster's Dictionary of Law, © 1996 Merriam-Webster, Inc.
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