primary quality

American  

noun

Epistemology.

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

---

Etymology

Origin of primary quality

First recorded in 1650–60

Example Sentences

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

That good is not an intrinsic or primary quality, but relative and adventitious, is clearly betrayed by Mr. Russell's own way of arguing, whenever he approaches some concrete ethical question.

From Winds Of Doctrine Studies in Contemporary Opinion by Santayana, George