Qualitas

Latin-English

quālĭt|as, -ātis. (ˈkʷa.li.tas) fem.

1. A quality.

[‘What-sort–ness,’ from qualis, as a calque of Greek ποιότης poeotēs; apparently a coinage of Cicero's.]

Cic.	100%	Class.	23%	Rom.	2%	Med.	0%	Neo.	0%

Constructions

Adjective constructions

• quae qualitas — Vitr., [ιδʹ], [ιεʹ]

Noun constructions

• corpus, qualitas — Cic., [αʹ]; Vitr. [ιγʹ]

Preposition constructions

• pro qualitate — ‘depending on what kind,’ Plin., [γʹ], [θʹ]

Verb constructions

• habere qualitatem — Vitr., [ιεʹ]; Plin. [δʹ]

Loci

Cicero

• αʹ n. Cicero, Academica 1.6:

sed quod ex utroque id iam corpus et quasi qualitatem quandam nominabant—dabitis enim profecto ut in rebus inusitatis, quod Graeci ipsi faciunt a quibus haec iam diu tractantur, utamur verbis interdum inauditis.

But what was made from both [matter and energy] they then called a body and, as it were, a certain ‘quality’—you will of course grant that we may sometimes use words yet unheard for unusual things, as the Greeks themselves do, who have been handling these things for some time now.

• α² Cicero, Academica 1.7:

qualitates igitur appellavi ποιότητας Graeci vocant, quod ipsum apud Graecos non est vulgi verbum sed philosophorum, atque id in multis; dialecticorum vero verba nulla sunt publica, suis utuntur.

And so I called them ‘qualities’; the Greeks call them ‘ποιότητες’ [poeotētes], which itself is not a common word among the Greeks but a philosophers' word, and it is so in many cases: indeed, none of the words of logicians are common; they use their own.

• α³ Cicero, Academica 1.7:

"Audebimus ergo," inquit, "novis verbis uti te auctore, si necesse erit. earum igitur qualitatum sunt aliae principes aliae ex his ortae."

"So we will venture," he said, "to use these new words on your recommendation, if it will be necessary. So of these ‘qualities’, some are original, and others of them derived."

• α⁴ Cicero, Academica 1.4:

Sed subiectam putant omnibus sine ulla specie atque carentem omni illa qualitate (faciamus enim tractando usitatius hoc verbum et tritius) materiam quandam, ex qua omnia expressa atque efficta sint

But they consider a certain matter to underlie everything, out of which all things are formed and fashioned, without any form and lacking that ‘quality’ entirely—yes, let us make that word more usual, and smoother by handling it.

• α⁵ Cicero, Academica 1.7:

illa vis quam qualitatem esse diximus

that force which we have said quality is

• βʹ Cicero, De Natura Deorum 2.37:

isti autem quemadmodum adseverant ex corpusculis non colore, non qualitate aliqua (quam ποιότητα Graeci vocant), non sensu praeditis, sed concurrentibus temere atque casu mundum esse perfectum

How, then, do they insist the world to be made up of particles that are not endowed with color, nor with any quality—which the Greeks call ποιότης [poeotēs]—nor with sense, but which come together randomly and by chance?

Classical

• ιαʹ Vitruvius, De Architectura 1.2:

Dispositio autem est rerum apta conlocatio elegansque compositionibus effectus operis cum qualitate.

And disposition is the appropriate arrangement of things and the elegant effect of the work from its being put together according to what kind of work it is.

• ια² Vitruvius, De Architectura 1.2:

Uti in hominis corpore e cubito, pede, palmo, digito ceterisque particulis symmetros est eurythmiae qualitas, sic est in operum perfectionibus.

As in the body of man the eurhythmy is of a symmetrical sort, from the forearm, the foot, the palm, the finger, and all the other small parts, so it is in perfecting buildings.

• ιγʹ n. Vitruvius, De Architectura 1.4:

Namque e principiis quae Graeci στοιχεῖα appellant, ut omnia corpora sunt composita, id est e calore et umore, terreno et aere, et ita mixtionibus naturali temperatura figurantur omnium animalium in mundo generatim qualitates.

Indeed, as all bodies are composed of the elements, which the Greeks call στοιχεῖα—that is, from heat and moisture, earth and air—so also all sorts of animals in the world are formed after their kind by being mixed according to their natural proportions.

• ιδʹ adj. Vitruvius, De Architectura 2.1:

Igitur de his rebus, quae sunt in aedificiis ad usum idoneae, quibusque sunt qualitatibus et quas habeant virtutes, ut potuero, dicam.

And so, I will talk as best I can about these things which are suitable for use in buildings—what their distinctive qualities are and what strengths they have.

• ιεʹ adj. v. Vitruvius, De Architectura 2.2:

Putavi oportere de varietatibus et discriminibus usus earum quasque haberent in aedificiis qualitates exponere.

I thought I should expound on their various kinds and the differences in their use, and what qualities they have in buildings.

Roman

• γʹ prep. Pliny, Naturalis Historia 2.82:

praecedit vero comitaturque terribilis sonus, alias murmuri similis, alias mugitibus aut clamori humano armorumve pulsantium fragori, pro qualitate materiae excipientis formaque vel cavernarum vel cuniculi, per quem meet

Indeed, a terrifying noise goes before and along with it, sometimes a rumbling, sometimes like a bellowing or human shouting or the clash of striking arms, depending on the quality of the matter receiving it and the shape of the caverns or the tunnel through which it passes.

• δʹ v. Pliny, Naturalis Historia 27.109:

odor murrae habet qualitatem, unde et nomen.

The smell has a myrrhy quality, whence also its name.

• εʹ Pliny, Naturalis Historia 31.19:

et haec insidiosa condicio est, quod quaedam etiam blandiuntur aspectu, ut ad Nonacrim Arcadiae, omnino nulla deterrent qualitate.

There is also this treacherous circumstance, that some [poisonous waters] may even be enticing in appearance, as at Nonacris in Arcadia; they do not deter with any distinctive quality at all.

• στʹ Pliny, Naturalis Historia 33.45:

plurimum refert concava sint et poculi modo an parmae Threcidicae, media depressa an elata, transversa an obliqua, supina an recta, qualitate excipientis figurae torquente venientes umbras

It matters greatly whether they are concave like a cup or like the Threx's parma shield, whether they are lowered or raised in the middle, straight across or at an angle, whether horizontal or upright, the quality of the receiving shape reflecting the incoming shade.

• ζʹ Pliny, Naturalis Historia 35.42:

mirumque, cum sit unus in cortina colos, ex illo alius atque alius fit in veste accipientis medicamenti qualitate mutatus, nec postea ablui potest.

And amazingly, while there may be only one color in the vat, one color after another is made out of it in the cloth; it is changed by the quality of the chemical receiving it, and it cannot be washed out afterwards.

• ηʹ Pliny, Naturalis Historia 36.44:

et in Comensi Italiae lapide viridi accidere scimus, sed in Siphnio singulare quod excalfactus oleo nigrescit durescitque natura mollissimus; tanta qualitatum differentia est.

We know this also happens with the green stone of Como, Italy, but it is unusual in the Siphnian that, though by nature it is quite soft, it blackens and hardens when it has been heated with oil; such is the difference in their qualities.

• θʹ prep. Pliny, Naturalis Historia 9.54:

has ubi genitalis anni stimularit hora, pandentes se quadam oscitatione impleri roscido conceptu tradunt, gravidas postea eniti, partumque concharum esse margaritas pro qualitate roris accepti.

When the annual birthing season stimulates these creatures, it is said that they, opening themselves wide with a kind of yawn, are filled with a dewy material to conceive; afterwards, the impregnated shells give birth, and the offspring of the shells are pearls based on what kind of dew is received.

• ιʹ Pseudo-Quintilian, Declamatio Maior 14.9:

illa vera sunt remedia, quae fugatis morbis causisque languoris postea non sentiuntur, et ea tantum innocenter dabuntur, quae potentiae suae qualitate consumpta desinunt, cum profuerunt.

Real cures are those which are no longer felt after the diseases and the causes of weakness have been driven out; and only those which stop working after they have used up whatever kind of effect they have can be given without any harm.

• ιβʹ Pseudo-Quintilian, Declamatio Maior 4.16:

Omnes, sicuti apud sacrae artis antistites satis constat, animae proprietates, et futuras mentium corporumque formas, ex illorum siderum qualitate, quibus in ortu suo cuncta gignuntur, accipiunt.

Everyone, as is well accepted among the masters of the sacred art, receives the distinctive properties of their soul and the future forms of their minds and bodies from the qualities of the signs under which all in their origin are born.