Meanings
verbqualify (third-person singular simple present qualifies, present participle qualifying, simple past and past participle qualified)
present singular third person qualifies · participle present qualifying · participle past qualified · past qualified
- transitiveTo describe or characterize something by listing its qualities.
- intransitiveTo successfully fall under some category or description by meeting requisite conditions.
But if it is done in conjunction with repointing of the building, the work would probably qualify as a major capital improvement.
2007 February 11, Jay Romano, “Triggering a Rent Increase”, in The New York Times1 more example
Descartes's methodism with its regulative criterion leads him to explicitly deny that accidentally true belief qualifies as knowledge.
1999, Matthew C. Bagger, Religious Experience, Justification, and History, →ISBN, page 62 - transitiveTo make someone competent or eligible for some position or task.
They usually spoke of this connection as a longing for the purer life of Attic civilization, but that was a delusion which even they recognized — the position of slaves and women hardly qualified Classical antiquity as an ideal of freedom.
1986 February 15, Michael Bronski, “Male Nudes: In His Own Image”, in Gay Community News, volume 13, number 31, page 8 - intransitivereflexiveTo become competent or eligible for some position or task.
He had qualified himself for municipal office by taking the oaths to the sovereigns in possession.
1856 December, [Thomas Babington] Macaulay, “Samuel Johnson”, in T[homas] F[lower] E[llis], editor, The Miscellaneous Writings and Speeches of Lord Macaulay, new edition, London: Longman, Green, Reader, & Dyer, published 1871, →OCLC - transitiveTo modify, limit, restrict or moderate something; especially to add conditions or requirements for an assertion to be true.
O! never say that I was false of heart, Though absence seem'd my flame to qualify
1609, William Shakespeare, “Sonnet 109”, in Shake-speares Sonnets. […], London: By G[eorge] Eld for T[homas] T[horpe] and are to be sold by William Aspley, →OCLC - archaictransitiveTo mitigate, alleviate (something); to make less disagreeable.
he balmes and herbes thereto applyde, / And euermore with mighty spels them charmd, / That in short space he has them qualifyde, / And him restor'd to health, that would haue algates dyde.
1590, Edmund Spenser, “Book II, Canto VI”, in The Faerie Queene. […], London: […] [John Wolfe] for William Ponsonbie, →OCLC - intransitiveTo compete successfully in some stage of a competition and become eligible for the next stage.
- transitiveTo give individual quality to; to modulate; to vary; to regulate.
It hath no larynx […] to qualify the sound.
1650, Thomas Browne, Pseudodoxia Epidemica: […], 2nd edition, London: […] A[braham] Miller, for Edw[ard] Dod and Nath[aniel] Ekins, […], →OCLC - transitiveartsTo throw and catch each object at least twice.
to qualify seven balls you need at least fourteen catches
noun
- artsAn instance of throwing and catching each prop at least twice.
Synonyms & antonyms
Opposite
verbspecify as a condition or requirement in a contract or agreement; make an express demand or provision in an agreement
verbdescribe or portray the character or the qualities or peculiarities of
Similar
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- Middle Frenchqualifier“to qualify”
- Englishqualify
Borrowed from Middle French qualifier (“to qualify”). Equivalent to quality + -fy.
More words from Middle French
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Bulgarian определям, окачествявам
- определям (opredeljam)to describe or characterize something by listing its qualities
- окачествявам (okačestvjavam)to describe or characterize something by listing its qualities
- квалифицирам (kvalificiram)to make someone, or to become competent or eligible for some position or task
- ограничавам (ograničavam)to modify, limit, restrict or moderate something
- класирам се (klasiram se)to compete successfully in some stage of a competition and become eligible for the next stage
Czech kvalifikovat
- kvalifikovatto compete successfully in some stage of a competition and become eligible for the next stage
Danish kvalificere, kvalificere
- kvalificereto make someone, or to become competent or eligible for some position or task
- kvalificereto certify or license someone for something
- kvalificere sigto compete successfully in some stage of a competition and become eligible for the next stage
Finnish määritellä, pätevöidä
- määritelläto describe or characterize something by listing its qualities
- pätevöidäto make someone, or to become competent or eligible for some position or task
- pätevöidäto certify or license someone for something
- rajoittaato modify, limit, restrict or moderate something
- kvalifioituato compete successfully in some stage of a competition and become eligible for the next stage
- päästäto compete successfully in some stage of a competition and become eligible for the next stage
French caractériser, qualifier
- caractériserto describe or characterize something by listing its qualities
- qualifierto describe or characterize something by listing its qualities
- définirto describe or characterize something by listing its qualities
- qualifierto make someone, or to become competent or eligible for some position or task
- qualifierto certify or license someone for something
- se qualifierto compete successfully in some stage of a competition and become eligible for the next stage
German qualifizieren, sich qualifizieren
- qualifizierento make someone, or to become competent or eligible for some position or task
- sich qualifizierento make someone, or to become competent or eligible for some position or task
- qualifizierento certify or license someone for something
Hungarian jellemez, leír
- jellemezto describe or characterize something by listing its qualities
- leírto describe or characterize something by listing its qualities
- meghatározto describe or characterize something by listing its qualities
- képesítto make someone, or to become competent or eligible for some position or task
- képesítést adto make someone, or to become competent or eligible for some position or task
- alkalmassá teszto make someone, or to become competent or eligible for some position or task
- képesítést szerezto make someone, or to become competent or eligible for some position or task
- alkalmassá válikto make someone, or to become competent or eligible for some position or task
- jogosítto certify or license someone for something
- feljogosítto certify or license someone for something
- árnyalto modify, limit, restrict or moderate something
- módosítto modify, limit, restrict or moderate something
Japanese 勝ち上がる, 勝ち進む
- 勝ち上がる (kachi-agaru)to compete successfully in some stage of a competition and become eligible for the next stage
- 勝ち進む (kachi-susumu)to compete successfully in some stage of a competition and become eligible for the next stage
Māori whakamāraurau, whakamāraurau
- whakamāraurauto make someone, or to become competent or eligible for some position or task
- whakamāraurauto certify or license someone for something
Portuguese classificar, qualificar
- classificarto compete successfully in some stage of a competition and become eligible for the next stage
- qualificarto compete successfully in some stage of a competition and become eligible for the next stage
Russian квалифици́ровать, гото́вить
- квалифици́ровать (kvalificírovatʹ)to describe or characterize something by listing its qualities
- гото́вить (gotóvitʹ)to make someone, or to become competent or eligible for some position or task
- аттестова́ть (attestovátʹ)to certify or license someone for something
- уточня́ть (utočnjátʹ)to modify, limit, restrict or moderate something
- ограни́чивать (ograníčivatʹ)to modify, limit, restrict or moderate something
- квалифицироваться (kvalificirovatʹsja)to compete successfully in some stage of a competition and become eligible for the next stage
Spanish calificar, capacitar
- calificarto describe or characterize something by listing its qualities
- capacitarto make someone, or to become competent or eligible for some position or task
- poder obtenerto make someone, or to become competent or eligible for some position or task
- tener derecho ato make someone, or to become competent or eligible for some position or task
- darle derecho ato make someone, or to become competent or eligible for some position or task
- expertizarto make someone, or to become competent or eligible for some position or task
- cualificarto certify or license someone for something
- puntualizarto modify, limit, restrict or moderate something
- acotarto modify, limit, restrict or moderate something
- clasificarto compete successfully in some stage of a competition and become eligible for the next stage
- cualificarto compete successfully in some stage of a competition and become eligible for the next stage
Swahili fuzu, fuzu
- fuzuto describe or characterize something by listing its qualities
- fuzuto make someone, or to become competent or eligible for some position or task
- fuzuto certify or license someone for something
- fuzuto modify, limit, restrict or moderate something
- fuzuto compete successfully in some stage of a competition and become eligible for the next stage
Swedish kvalificera
- kvalificerato compete successfully in some stage of a competition and become eligible for the next stage
Vietnamese vượt qua vòng loại
- vượt qua vòng loạito compete successfully in some stage of a competition and become eligible for the next stage
Cite this entry
APA
qualify. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/qualify
MLA
“qualify.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/qualify. Accessed November 2, 2026.
Chicago
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “qualify,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/qualify.
Source: qualify on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.