Qualification

How to spell qualification

13 letters · 5 syllables

How to pronounce qualification

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does qualification mean?

1. nounAn official achievement, such as a degree or certificate, that shows a person is fit for a job or activity.
2. nounA statement or condition that restricts or modifies an otherwise general claim.

Qualification in a sentence

• The post requires a teaching qualification and three years of experience.

• He accepted the offer without any qualification or reservation.

• She listed every qualification on her updated resume.

• The report praised the plan, though with one important qualification.

Where does qualification come from?

Language of origin: Latin

This word traces back to the Latin qualis, meaning 'of what kind' or 'of what sort', the same root that gives us 'quality'. Medieval Latin combined it with facere, 'to make or do', producing qualificare, literally 'to make of a certain kind' or 'to attribute a quality to something'. English borrowed the noun form through French in the late 1500s, when it first meant the act of describing or limiting something by stating its qualities. From that came the modern sense of a condition that restricts or modifies a statement, and later the now-dominant meaning of an attainment, such as a degree or certificate, that makes a person fit for a role. The hidden trap in the spelling is the unstressed middle, the 'ali' and 'ifi' sequence of light vowels, plus the silent reminder that it shares its 'quali' opening with 'quality'.

How the word is built

• quali- (from qualis: of what kind)
• -fic- (from facere: to make)
• -ation (noun of action)