primary quality

American  

noun

Epistemology.

1. any of the qualities inherent in an object, namely quantity, extent, figure, solidity, and motion or rest.

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Etymology

Origin of primary quality

First recorded in 1650–60

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

primary quality

By contrast, Matthen sees color as more reality-dependent than the feeling of pleasure, while still being less real world-based than a so-called primary quality, like the movement or size of atoms.

From Salon ● Nov. 16, 2024

Asked to sum up the primary quality a leader needs, Hogan led off his response with: “Keep your word. Everything after that pales by comparison.”

From Washington Post ● Nov. 4, 2021

Both William Hartnell and Peter Capaldi were cast as the Doctor at the age of 55 Writing in Mark Lawson suggested that "danger" was Capaldi's primary quality as an actor.

From BBC ● Aug. 5, 2013

It might have other advantages over natural ice, but in Bessie Pastor's mind its primary quality would be safety.

From Time Magazine Archive

The vessels laid down were cruisers, the primary quality of which should be speed; but fourteen knots was the highest demanded, and that of one only, the Chicago.

From From Sail to Steam, Recollections of Naval Life by A. T. (Alfred Thayer) Mahan