qualify

Pronunciation

• IPA: /ˈkwɒl.ɪ.faɪ/ (UK); /ˈkwɑ.lɪ.faɪ/, /ˈkwɑ.lə.faɪ/ (US)^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Middle French qualifier and directly borrowed from Medieval Latin qualificare (“to attribute a quality to”),^[2][3][4] from qualis (“of what sort”) (see quality) and -ficāre, to make (see -fy).^[3][5]

Earliest recorded meaning

To make a document legal by specifying time and place: 1465, in the Paston Letters;^[2] to invest with a quality, the mid-15th century in Etymonline.^[3]

Semantic evolution

To limit or modify by a reservation is from the 1530s (1533, in Thomas More),^[3][2] as is the sense of taking the necessary steps to hold an office.^[3] To describe or name in a particular way is from 1549,^[6] and in grammar, of an adjective, to express a quality of a noun, from 1589.^[6] To be or become fit for an employment is by the 1580s (1581 in the OED).^[3][6] In sport, to reach a required standard for a later stage of a competition is a 20th-century use.^[7][8] In Surrey dialect it meant to become fit for use, of a horse.^[9]

Timeline

• 1465 – to make a document legal.^[2]
• 1533 – to limit, modify.^[2]
• 1549 – to describe.^[6]
• 1581 – to make fit for an office.^[6]
• 1589 – in grammar.^[6]

Modern meaning

Verb

1. To become entitled to something by meeting certain conditions.
2. To pass the examinations or training for a profession.
3. To make a statement less absolute by adding a reservation; to modify.
4. To reach a later stage of a competition by meeting a standard.
5. (grammar) Of a word, to describe or limit the meaning of another word.

Word family

• qualifyingly
• misqualify
• overqualify
• qualifiable
• nonqualifying
• disqualify
• prequalify
• requalify

Related words

• qualification
• disqualification
• prequalification
• requalification
• well-qualified
• unqualified
• quality
• qualitative

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
3. ^ a b c d e f Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
4. ^ Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
5. ^ Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
6. ^ a b c d e f Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
7. ^ The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin
8. ^ Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins
9. ^ Wright, Joseph, ed. (1898–1905), The English Dialect Dictionary, 6 vols., Oxford: Henry Frowde; via EDD Online 4.0, University of Innsbruck (CC BY 4.0)