# qualify

> English word · Verb · IPA /ˈkwɒl.ɪ.faɪ/ · frequency rank #5,252

## Definitions
1. To describe or characterize something by listing its qualities.
2. To successfully fall under some category or description by meeting requisite conditions.
3. To make someone competent or eligible for some position or task.
4. To become competent or eligible for some position or task.
5. To certify or license someone for something.
6. To modify, limit, restrict or moderate something; especially to add conditions or requirements for an assertion to be true.
7. To mitigate, alleviate (something); to make less disagreeable.
8. To compete successfully in some stage of a competition and become eligible for the next stage.
9. To give individual quality to; to modulate; to vary; to regulate.
10. To throw and catch each object at least twice.

## Etymology
Borrowed from Middle French qualifier (“to qualify”). Equivalent to quality + -fy.

## Easily confused with
- **quality** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/qualify-vs-quality)
- **quantify** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/qualify-vs-quantify)

## Common misspellings (10)
`qaulify`, `qqualify`, `quailfy`, `qualfiy`, `qualiffy`, `qualifyy`, `qualiyf`, `quallify`, `qulaify`, `uqalify`

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/qualify