| 释义 |
qualify, v.|ˈkwɒlɪfaɪ|
Also 6 qualyfy, -fie, (6–7 qualle-, qualli-, quale-, -fye, -fie), 6–8 qualifie.
[a. F. qualifi-er (15th c.), or ad. med.L. quālificāre to attribute a quality to, f. quālis of such a kind + -ficāre: see -fy.]
I. To invest with a quality or qualities.
1. trans. To attribute a certain quality or qualities to.
a. To describe or designate in a particular way; to characterize, entitle, name. († Const. with.)
1549Latimer 4th Serm. bef. Edw. VI (Arb.) 107 S. Paule in hys epistle qualifyeth a bishop, and saith that he must be..apte to teache and to confute all maner of false doctryne. 1653H. Cogan tr. Pinto's Trav. xii. 37, I will favor thee as a Vassal, and not as a brother, as thou qualifiest thyself. 1684J. Peter Siege Vienna 21 Two of the Eldest Colonels were qualified with a Title between a Major General and a Colonel. 1823Byron Juan x. lxxxi, The ‘Devil's drawing-room’, As some have qualified that wondrous place. 1826Blackw. Mag. XX. 77 The propositions referred to the theologians have been qualified as heretical. 1873Browning Red Cotton Night-Cap Country 253 Madame Muhlhausen,—whom good taste forbids We qualify as do these documents.
b. Gram. Of an adj.: To express some quality belonging to (a noun). Of an adv.: To modify. Also used of attributive nouns, qualifying phrases, or subordinate clauses.
[1589Puttenham Eng. Poesie iii. xvii. (Arb.) 193 Some⁓times wordes suffered to go single, do giue greater sence and grace then words quallified by attributions do.] 1837M. Green Engl. Gramm. 14 [Adjectives] are added to nouns to define, qualify, describe, or limit the signification of the noun. 1887Roget Introd. Old French 176 [The Adjective] qualifying two or more Substantives. 1888H. A. Strong tr. Paul's Princ. Hist. Lang. 424 [The adjective] bears the same relation to the substantive as an adverb to the adjective which it qualifies. 1892H. Sweet New Eng. Gram. i. §34. 14 Thus very in a very strong man qualifies the attribute-word strong. Qualifiers themselves may be qualified, as in very many Englishmen. 1924O. Jespersen Philos. Gram. vii. 96 In any composite denomination of a thing or person.., we always find that there is one word of supreme importance to which the others are joined as subordinates. This chief word is defined (qualified, modified) by another word, which in its turn may be defined (qualified, modified) by a third word, etc. 1939G. McKnight et al. Gram. Living Eng. x. 102 By far the largest class of adjectives is that used in qualifying nouns. 1947A. M. Clark Spoken Eng. (ed. 2) iv. 81 Frequently..noun-adjectives are joined to the nouns they qualify by hyphens:—bird-cage, book-review, etc. 1959S. H. Burton Handbk. Eng. Pract. II. 127 Add to each of the following sentences one phrase to qualify the subject word, one phrase to qualify the object word, and one phrase to modify the verb. 1972M. L. Samuels Linguistic Evol. v. 68 Son is usually either modified by my/his/her, etc. or qualified by an of-group, whereas sun is normally preceded by the definite article. 1975[see qualifying ppl. a.].
†2.
a. To impart a certain quality to (a thing); to make (a thing) what it is. Obs.
1592Greene Upst. Courtier in Harl. Misc. (Malh.) II. 221 Is..not rather true nobility a mind excellently qualified with rare vertues? 1609Bible (Douay) Gen. Comm., Then shal the bodies be qualified according to the state of the soules, happie or miserable for ever. 1645Quarles Sol. Recant. iii. 71 But thou hast tainted that immortall breath, Which qualifi'd thy life, and made thee free Of heav'n and earth. a1677Hale Prim. Orig. Man. iv. vi. 344 The Divine Will, determined or qualified (if we may use that improper word) with the highest..Wisdom and Power.
b. absol. To bring it about that. Obs.
a1670Hacket Abp. Williams i. (1692) 60 It qualified also, that no detection could be made..that he bought this greatness.
3. a. To invest (a person) with proper or essential qualities or accomplishments (for being something). Also refl.
1581Mulcaster Positions xxxvi. (1887) 134 Set to schoole, to qualifie themselues, to learne how to be religious. 1683Moxon Mech. Exerc., Printing i, A Typographer ought to be equally quallified with all the Sciences that becomes an Architect. 1711W. Sutherland Shipbuild. Assist. 22 Those Properties..will qualify a Man for a compleat Architect. 1782Cowper Parrot 11 To qualify him more at large, And make him quite a wit.
b. To make fit or competent for doing (or to do) something, or for some sphere of action, existence, etc. Chiefly refl.
1665Boyle Occas. Refl. vi. iv. (1848) 353 He whose parts are too mean to qualifie him to govern others. 1712Spect. No. 524 ⁋5 To refresh and otherwise qualify themselves for their journey. 1749Fielding Tom Jones vi. iii, Moderation..can qualify us to taste many pleasures. 1817Scott Rob Roy xii, Qualifying myself for my new calling. 1852Dickens Bleak Ho. xxxviii, I am qualifying myself to give lessons. 1873Hamerton Intell. Life iii. i. (1875) 77 Men are qualified for their work by knowledge.
absol.1742Young Nt. Th. ix. 575 That strength, Which best may qualify for final joy.
4. a. To make legally capable; to endow with legal power or capacity; to give a recognized status to (a person).
1583Stubbes Anat. Abus. ii. (1882) 113 Would God all Ecclesiastical persons..would nowe..quallifie themselues, shewe obedience to Princes lawes. 1667Pepys Diary (1879) IV. 350 Is made one of the Duke's Chaplains, which qualifies him for two livings. 1767Blackstone Comm. II. 418 These game laws..do indeed qualify nobody, except..a game⁓keeper, to kill game. 1862Merivale Rom. Emp. (1865) IV. xxxvii. 291 He qualified others, by adding to their fortunes from his own bounty. 1889Pall Mall G. 27 June 5/1 A Royal Charter enabling it to ‘qualify’ nurses as doctors are ‘qualified’.
b. spec. by the administration of an oath. U.S.
[1723Act of Pennsylvania, Every brewer..shall be qualified by oath..that he will not use any molasses, etc.] 1798in Dallas Amer. Law Rep. II. 100 The court said they would order the jury to be qualified. 1800M. Cutler in Life, etc. (1888) II. 37 He [the Governor of Mass.] met the two Houses at 12, and was qualified.
5. intr. (for refl.) To make oneself competent for something, or capable of holding some office, exercising some function, etc., by fulfilling some necessary condition; spec. by taking an oath, and hence U.S.: To make oath, to swear to something (Bartlett, 1848). Also, to become eligible for an old-age pension.
a1588Tarlton Jests (1844) p. xxv, Presently he can Qualifie for a mule or a mare, Or for an Alderman. 1790Burke Fr. Rev. Wks. V. 384 All the ministers of state must qualify, and take this test. 1825C. R. H. in Hone Everyday Bk. I. 1334 His lordship goes to church to qualify. 1849Macaulay Hist. Eng. vi. II. 27 He could not legally continue to employ officers who refused to qualify. 1891Law Reports, Weekly Notes 118/1 It was his duty to qualify for the office of director by taking forty shares. 1911Rep. Labour & Social Conditions in Germany (Tariff Reform League) III. 92 The man cannot draw his pension until he is 70 years of age, except through invalidity; he qualifies after one year's payment. 1927W. E. Collinson Contemp. Eng. 83 The Old Age Pensions Act (1908) supplied the language with at least one phrase: to qualify for the pension (to be getting on in years).
†6. trans. Sc. Law. To establish by evidence. Obs.
a1639Spottiswood Hist. Ch. Scot. vi. (1677) 333 Hay compeired, and nothing being qualified against him, was upon suspicion confined. a1670Spalding Troub. (1850) I. 358 The vther half [of the forfeited goods] to be givin to him who dilates the recepteris, and qualefeis the samen. 1776Ld. Thurlow in Boswell's Johnson (1848) App. 817/2 If the individual could qualify a wrong, and a damage arising from it. 1946A. D. Gibb Students' Gloss. Scottish Legal Terms 71 Qualify, to make out or establish, as in the expression, to qualify a title.
II. To modify in some respect.
7. To modify (a statement, opinion, etc.) by any limitation or reservation; to make less strong or positive.
1533More Apol. xxvii. Wks. 893/2 He hathe circumspectly..qualyfyed and modered hys tale wyth thys woord (all). 1551Princess Mary in Ellis Orig. Lett. Ser. i. II. 177 The promise made..by your Majesties counsell..although they seeme now to quallefye and deny the thing. a1661Fuller Worthies (1840) III. 8 Whilst a prince he was undutiful to his father; or to qualify the matter, over dutiful to his mother, whose domestic quarrels he always espoused. a1731Atterbury (J.), My proposition I have qualified with the word, often; thereby making allowance [etc.]. 1790Burke Fr. Rev. Wks. V. 296 To observe whether..I might not find reasons to change or to qualify some of my first sentiments. 1855Prescott Philip II, i. viii. (1857) 146 Elizabeth received the offer of Philip's hand, qualified as it was, in the most gracious manner. 1883Contemp. Rev. XLIII. 49 An avowal, which he qualifies by a subtle after-thought.
absol.1838Lytton Alice xi. v, The surgeon..began to apologize—to qualify.
8. a. To moderate or mitigate, so as to reduce to a more satisfactory or normal condition; esp. to render less violent, severe or unpleasant; to lessen the force or effect of (something disagreeable).
Extremely common in the 16–17th c., with a great variety of objects; now somewhat rare in comparison with 12 b.
1543–4Act 35 Hen. VIII, c. 5 The greate peril and dangier of the kynges maiesties subiectes, if the same statute shulde not..be tempered qualified or refourmed. 1547Boorde Brev. Health §170 Qualyfie the heate of the Lyuer..with the confection of Acetose. 1578T. N. tr. Conq. W. India 229 Our men stoode in great perill..if this war and mutenie had not soone bene qualified. 1608Willet Hexapla Exod. 688 The incense was..burned..to qualifie the smell..from the sacrifices of flesh. 1648Markham Housew. Gard. iii. viii. (1668) 68 Camomile..is sweet smelling, qualifying head-ach. 1664H. Power Exp. Philos. iii. 188 Something..that will abate and qualifie the rigour of this Conception. 1702W. J. Bruyn's Voy. Levant xi. 51 This Civility of the Turks does in some measure qualify the Hardship of those who are confin'd Prisoners in that Castle. 1767Blackstone Comm. II. 147 Though they still are held at the will of the lord,..yet that will is qualified, restrained, and limited. 1827Scott Highl. Widow v, A voice in which the authority of the mother was qualified by her tenderness. 1839Bailey Festus v, Qualifying every line which vice..writes on the brow. 1856R. A. Vaughan Mystics (1860) I. v. i. 116 His sincere piety, his large heart,..always qualify, and seem sometimes to redeem, his errors.
†b. To make less wrong or reprehensible. Obs.
1749Fielding Tom Jones xiii. xii, The frame of her mind was too delicate to bear the thought of having been guilty of a falsehood, however qualified by circumstances. 1776Paine Com. Sense 76 It is..the invasion of our country..which conscientiously qualifies the use of arms.
†c. To make proportionate to; to reduce to. Obs. rare.
1548Udall, etc. Erasm. Par. Luke i. (R.), The Highest..tempering and qualifying his infinite power and vertue to the measure and capacitie of mannes nature. 1604Nottingham Rec. IV. 272, 20 li. fyne was ymposed..which fyne was afterwardes..qualefied to iiij li. 1641Milton Reform. ii. 43 How to qualifie, and mould the sufferance and subjection of the people to the length of that foot that is to tread on their necks.
†9. To appease, calm, pacify (a person). Obs.
c1540tr. Pol. Verg. Eng. Hist. (Camden No. 29) 210 Withowt much adoe they began to mollyfy hir..Whan the quene was thus qualyfyed [etc.]. 1579–80North Plutarch (1676) 488 Sertorius..did qualifie him the best he could, and made him more mild and tractable. 1617Middleton & Rowley Fair Quarrel iv. i, When you have left him in a chafe, then I'll qualify the rascal. 1679Trials Green, Berry, &c. 16 You being a Justice of the Peace may qualifie them [two men fighting].
†10. To bring into, or keep in, a proper condition; to control, regulate, modulate. Obs.
1579Langham Gard. Health (1633) 624 The decoction of the roots..doth qualifie the Liuer. 1606Shakes. Tr. & Cr. ii. ii. 118 Is your blood So madly hot, that no discourse of reason..Can qualifie the same? 1647N. Bacon Disc. Govt. Eng. i. xvi. (1739) 30 This Election was qualified under a stipulation or covenant. 1688S. Penton Guardian's Instruct. (1897) 15 The practice of these Rules will help qualifie a Life of Action such as yours must be.
11. To modify the strength or flavour of (a liquid).
1591Nashe Prognostication Wks. 1883–4 II. 152 A Cuppe of Sack,..so qualified with Suger, that they proue not rewmatick. 1633T. Adams Exp. 2 Peter ii. 13 Poison may be qualified, and become medicinal. 1671tr. Frejus' Voy. Mauritania 43 Having tasted the water,..we mixed it with a little Aqua vitæ, which we had brought with us instead of Wine, to qualifie it. 1748Smollett Rod. Rand. lvi, The Squire..called for his tea, which he drank..qualified with brandy. 1821Byron Juan iv. liii, Tea and coffee leave us much more serious, Unless when qualified with thee, Cogniac! 1840Dickens Barn. Rudge xlv, [He] qualified his mug of water with a plentiful infusion of the liquor.
fig.1697Dryden Ess. Georgics in Virgil (1721) I. 199 Greek..rightly mixt and qualified with the Doric Dialect.
12.
†a. To affect (a person or thing) injuriously. Const. with. Obs.
b. To abate or diminish (something good); to make less perfect or complete.
1584R. Scot Discov. Witchcr. iii. xv. (1886) 50 Foure old witches, who with their charms so qualified the Danes as they were thereby disabled. 1602Shakes. Ham. iv. vii. 114 Loue is begun by Time: And..Time qualifies the sparke and fire of it. 1639Fuller Holy War ii. xvii. (1840) 72 To qualify the Christians' joy for this good success, Joceline..was conquered and taken prisoner. 1644Bulwer Chiron. 52 The standers by heartily wish their Hands qualified with some Chiragracall prohibition. 1860Tyndall Glac. i. xxvii. 209 Thoughts which tended to qualify the pleasure. 1870Dickens E. Drood viii, We had better not qualify our good understanding.
†13. intr. to qualify on, to submit quietly to. to qualify with, to come to terms with. Obs.
1754Richardson Grandison I. xxxiii. 230 What a slave had I been in spirit, could I have qualified on such villainous treatment. 1797–1805S. & Ht. Lee Canterb. T. V. 494 He..qualifies with any passion which it is vicious to indulge.
Add:[7.] b. spec. in Accounting. To enter a qualification (sense *1 b) in (an auditor's report on company accounts).
1924Kohler & Pettengill Princ. Auditing (1925) xiv. 162 The importance of when and how to qualify a certificate is something that only years of experience can teach the auditor. 1968Times 10 Feb. 11/3 Binder, Hamlyn, chartered accountants, have qualified the latest accounts from Gorringes department stores. 1975Economist 8 Nov. 116/2 Its 1974–75 accounts were heavily qualified by its auditors. 1985T. Lundberg Starting in Business iv. 54 If the auditor is not convinced that the accounts reflect the true state of the company's affairs, then he will ‘qualify’ the auditor's report accordingly. |