qualità Italian · revision 39118

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=first half of the 13th century|origins=la quālis}}

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+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * /kwa.liˈta/^(Wiktionary)

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+ ==Forms==

+ '''qualità''' ''f'' (invariable)^(Wiktionary)

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+ ==Etymology==

+ It is a learned word, [[bor|la|qualitas|alt=quālitās|t=quality, nature]], from the accusative [[m|la|qualitas|alt=quālitātem]], with the final syllable dropped.^(DELI 1999)^(Nocentini 2010)^(GRADIT 2003)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(Wiktionary) The Latin noun is formed from [[m|la|quālis|t=of what kind]] with the suffix [[m|la|-tās]];^(Nocentini 2010)^(GRADIT 2003)^(Wiktionary) Cicero coined it as a calque of [[grc|ποιότης|tr=poiótēs]], from [[m|grc|ποῖος|tr=poîos|t=of what kind]].^(Nocentini 2010)^(GRADIT 2003)^(Wiktionary) DEI and GDLI add that the scholastic philosophers spread it, and that it reached [[fr|qualité]] by the end of the 12th century.^(DEI|3169)^(GDLI|15, 45)

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+ Old Italian had the fuller forms [[roa-oit|qualitade]] and [[roa-oit|qualitate]].^(GDLI|15, 45)^(Treccani 2011)^(Gabrielli 2020) The same learned word is [[es|cualidad]].^(Nocentini 2010)

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+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ DELI's first record is from an anonymous text of the first half of the 13th century, in the sense “moral or spiritual property of a person”.^(DELI 1999) GRADIT, Nocentini and Devoto–Oli give the same date.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Nocentini 2010)^(Devoto–Oli 2026) The sense “the elements that make up the nature of a thing” is in Dante's ''Convivio'' (1304–1308), in the form ''qualitade''.^(DELI 1999)^(GDLI|15, 45)

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+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ In the 14th century Boccaccio uses ''qualità'' also for social rank and for manner or way.^(DEI|3169)^(Devoto–Oli 2026) In his introduction to the ''Decameron'' he describes how “the quality of the said sickness” changed into black or livid spots (''la qualità della predetta infermità'').^(Tommaseo–Bellini 1861) The derived adjective ''qualitativo'' is recorded from the 14th century, from [[la-lat|qualitativus|alt=qualitātīvus]].^(Nocentini 2010)

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+ In modern use the word often means good quality by itself (''un prodotto di qualità''), a use Devoto–Oli traces to French ''de qualité''.^(Devoto–Oli 2026) ''Qualità della vita'' renders French ''qualité de vie'', and ''salto di qualità'' is a marked change for the better.^(Treccani 2011)^(Zingarelli 2010) Industry speaks of ''controllo di qualità'' and ''qualità totale''.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Gabrielli 2020)

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+ ==Timeline==

+ * First half of the 13th century – ''Qualità'' appears for a moral property of a person.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1304–1308 – Dante uses ''qualitade'' for the nature of a thing.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 14th century – ''Qualitativo'' is first recorded.^(Nocentini 2010)

+ * 14th century – Boccaccio uses ''qualità'' for social rank.^(DEI|3169)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A property, or the set of properties, that makes something what it is; its level of excellence: ''Questa stoffa è di ottima qualità.''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Zingarelli 2010)^(Wiktionary)

+ # A physical, moral or intellectual characteristic of a person; by itself, a good one, a [[m|en|virtue]] or [[m|en|merit]]: ''Ha molte qualità, ma è testardo.''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Zingarelli 2010)

+ # ''(philosophy)'' The formal aspect of a being; in Aristotle and the scholastics, one of the [[m|en|category|alt=categories]]; in Kant, one of the four headings of the categories of the understanding.^(GRADIT 2003)

+ # A kind, sort or [[m|en|variety]]: ''In questo negozio vendono tre qualità di caffè.''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(Zingarelli 2010)

+ # The set of features that makes a product or service meet its requirements: ''controllo di qualità''.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Gabrielli 2020)

+ # ''in qualità di'': as, in the capacity of.^(Zingarelli 2010)^(Treccani 2011)^(Gabrielli 2020)

+ # ''(literary, dated)'' High social rank: ''una signora di qualità''.^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(Treccani 2011)

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+ ==Word family==

+ * [[qualitativo]]

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+ ==Related words==

+ * [[quale]]

+ * [[quantità]]

+ * [[la|qualitas]]

+ * [[fr|qualité]]

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+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}