noun, plural -ties, adjective | 1. | an essential or distinctive characteristic, property, or attribute: the chemical qualities of alcohol. |
| 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; silks of fine quality. |
| 4. | high grade; superiority; excellence: wood grain of quality. |
| 5. | a personality or character trait: kindness is one of her many good qualities. |
| 6. | native excellence or superiority. |
| 7. | an accomplishment or attainment. |
| 8. | good or high social position: a man of quality. |
| 9. | the superiority or distinction associated with high social position. |
| 10. | Acoustics. the texture of a tone, dependent on its overtone content, that distinguishes it from others of the same pitch and loudness. |
| 11. | Phonetics. the tonal color, or timbre, that characterizes a particular vowel sound. |
| 12. | Logic. the character of a proposition as affirmative or negative. |
| 13. | Thermodynamics. the proportion or percentage of vapor in a mixture of liquid and vapor, as wet steam. |
| 14. | social status or position. |
| 15. | a person of high social position: He's quality, that one is. |
| 16. | of or having superior quality: quality paper. |
| 17. | producing or providing products or services of high quality or merit: a quality publisher. |
| 18. | of or occupying high social status: a quality family. |
| 19. | marked by a concentrated expenditure of involvement, concern, or commitment: Counselors are urging that working parents try to spend more quality time with their children. |
quality
The totality of features and characteristics of a product or service that bear on its ability to satisfy stated or implied needs. Not to be mistaken for "degree of excellence" or "fitness for use" which meet only part of the definition.
[ISO8402].
(1995-11-10)