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secondary quality

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noun Epistemology.
  1. one of the qualities attributed by the mind to an object perceived, such as color, temperature, or taste.
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Compare primary quality.

Origin of secondary quality

First recorded in 1690–1700
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
British Dictionary definitions for secondary qualities

secondary qualities

pl n
  1. (in empiricist philosophy) those properties of objects that are explained in terms of the primary properties of their parts, such as heat in terms of the motion of molecules
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Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012