secondary quality
Americannoun
Etymology
Origin of secondary quality
First recorded in 1690–1700
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
To be vivid is a secondary quality which must presuppose the first; for vividly to convey a wrong impression is only to make failure conspicuous.
From The Works of Robert Louis Stevenson - Swanston Edition Vol. 16 (of 25) by Stevenson, Robert Louis
Physical courage is, after all, but a secondary quality, and needs a sublime motive to make it thoroughly sublime.
From The Atlantic Monthly, Volume 02, No. 13, November, 1858 by Various
Color is a secondary quality, therefore less important than form.
From Modern Painters Volume I (of V) by Ruskin, John
It is in fact almost entirely in this secondary quality that their interest lies; their ostensible subject-matter is unimportant.
From Books and Characters French and English by Strachey, Giles Lytton
Because we know not the real constitutions of substances, on which each secondary quality particularly depends.
From An Essay Concerning Humane Understanding, Volume 2 MDCXC, Based on the 2nd Edition, Books 3 and 4 by Locke, John
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
