qualitatif

Forms

qualitatif (feminine qualitative, masculine plural qualitatifs, feminine plural qualitatives)^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Late Latin qualitativus (“concerning quality”), a Late Latin word recorded in the 6th century, derived from Latin quālitās (“quality”), the source of qualité.^[2][3][1][4] Bloch and Wartburg call the Latin word scholastic.^[5]

Rey describes the adjective as formed twice: borrowed alone in 1569 with the sense “distinguished”, it did not take hold beside the phrase de qualité, and it was taken up again in the 19th century in its neutral sense, on the model of quantitatif.^[3] The TLFi dates this earlier Middle French qualitatif (“of quality”) to the middle of the 16th century, in Antoine Le Maçon's translation of Boccaccio's Decameron.^[2] Bloch and Wartburg date the word to the 15th century, after the adverb qualitativement,^[5] which the TLFi finds in 1495 meaning “as, in the capacity of”.^[2] The Grand Robert compares Italian qualitativo.^[6]

Earliest recorded meaning

In its modern sense, “having to do with quality”, it is first found in 1834 in Balzac's La Recherche de l'absolu.^[2][7]

Semantic evolution

The 16th-century word meant “distinguished, of quality”.^[3][8] Revived in the 19th century, the adjective was opposed to quantitatif and named what concerns the nature of things rather than what can be measured.^[3][2]

In 1851 Cournot used it in chemistry, where analyse qualitative is the analysis that finds which elements make up a substance without measuring their proportions.^[2][3] The TLFi notes that English qualitative is found as a chemical term from 1842.^[2] The GLLF dates analyse qualitative to 1860 and the logical term connaissance qualitative to 1963.^[8]

Timeline

• 1495 – The adverb qualitativement is recorded in the sense “in the capacity of”.^[2]
• 1569 – Qualitatif is borrowed in the sense “distinguished”.^[3]
• 1834 – Balzac uses it in the sense “having to do with quality”.^[2][3]
• 1851 – Cournot uses it in chemistry.^[2][3]
• 1860 – Analyse qualitative is recorded.^[8]
• 1875 – The adverb qualitativement is recorded in its modern sense.^[2]

Meanings

Adjective

1. Qualitative: having to do with the quality or nature of things rather than with what can be measured, as opposed to quantitatif: une différence qualitative.^[2][7][9]
2. (chemistry) Analyse qualitative: the identification of the elements making up a mixture, without regard to their proportions.^[7][8]
3. Of good quality.^[1][4]

Noun

1. Le qualitatif: what concerns quality, as opposed to le quantitatif.^[7][10]

Word family

• qualitativement

Related words

• qualifiable
• qualifier
• qualité
• quantitatif
• Latin quālitās

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Trésor de la langue française informatisé (2004), ATILF – CNRS & Université de Lorraine, atilf.fr/tlfi; electronic version of Imbs, Paul; Quemada, Bernard, eds. (1971–1994), Trésor de la langue française, Paris: CNRS / Gallimard
3. ^ a b c d e f g h Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
4. ^ a b Wiktionnaire (French Wiktionary), fr.wiktionary.org
5. ^ a b Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
6. ^ Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
7. ^ a b c d Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
8. ^ a b c d Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
9. ^ Dictionnaire Le Robert en ligne, dictionnaire.lerobert.com (accessed 2024)
10. ^ Dictionnaire de français Larousse, larousse.fr/dictionnaires/francais (accessed 2024)