How good or bad something is; it can also mean a feature or characteristic that something or someone has.
From Old French *qualité*, from Latin *qualitas* meaning 'of what kind', from *qualis* ('what sort of'). It originally referred to the nature or character of something, then also to its level of excellence.
Quality began as a neutral 'what kind is it?' question, and only later became 'how good is it?'. When companies talk about 'quality control', they’re really trying to control both the kind and the level of what they produce.
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