Definition of "quality" [qual•i•ty]

• An inherent or distinguishing characteristic; a property. (noun)
• A personal trait, especially a character trait: "The most vital quality a soldier can possess is self-confidence” ( George S. Patton). (noun)
• Essential character; nature: "The quality of mercy is not strain'd” ( Shakespeare). (noun)
• Superiority of kind: an intellect of unquestioned quality. (noun)
• Degree or grade of excellence: yard goods of low quality. (noun)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

• "She enters the school-room makes a few criticisms, asks a blessing at the table; occasionally a misdemeanor is reported to her, when the offender is cited to the august presence, and duly reprimanded, not according to the quality of the offense, but, in an inverse proportion, to the _quality_ of the offender."
• "Now it is evident that the first two sciences presuppose that which forms the exclusive object of the third, namely, quality; for all quantity in nature is either itself derived, or at least derives its powers from some _quality_, as that of weight, specific cohesion, hardness, &c."
• "High quality of UE «MZOR» products is awarded with: In 2007: - «Award of Ministry of Industry of the Republic of Belarus in the field of quality» In 2008: - «Best goods of the Republic of"