The story
- Proto-Indo-European · derived from*kʷo-“who, how”
- Latin · derived fromquālitās, quālitātem
- Old French · derived fromqualité
- Middle English · inherited fromqualite
- English todayquality
From Middle English qualite, from Old French qualité, from Latin quālitās, quālitātem, from quālis (“of what kind”), from Proto-Indo-European *kʷo- (“who, how”). Cicero coined qualitas as a calque to translate the Ancient Greek word ποιότης (poiótēs, “quality”), coined by Plato from ποῖος (poîos, “of what nature, of what kind”).
Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.