Drag to pan · scroll to zoom
Drag to rotate
Tracing “”…
Where does the word "quality" come from? It comes from Latin qualitas, passing through Old French before entering English (1200s).
Read the full story
Where does the word "quality" come from? It comes from Latin qualitas, passing through Old French before entering English (1200s).
Quality’s story begins in Latin: qualitas meant “what sort.” Coined by Cicero from 'qualis', of what kind, to translate Greek 'poiotēs'. By medieval, the word had taken hold in Old French as qualité. A characteristic. It reached English by 1200s as quality. 'quality control' dates from the 1900s. Today, quality means how good something is.
- Stage 1 · Latin · ancient qualitas "what sort", coined by Cicero from 'qualis', of what kind, to translate Greek 'poiotēs'.
- Stage 2 · Old French · medieval qualité "nature, kind", a characteristic.
- Stage 3 · English · 1200s quality "characteristic", 'quality control' dates from the 1900s.