qualify
KWOL-uh-fye
/ˈkwɒlɪfaɪ/
To meet the necessary requirements or conditions to participate in a competition.
In sports, this often involves a preliminary round or meeting a specific performance standard (like a time or distance).
The story behind the word. From Latin 'qualis' (of what kind) and 'facere' (to make). It literally means 'to make of a certain quality.' In sports, it means proving you are of the 'quality' required for the elite level.
Word relationships
- eligible: Eligible is an adjective describing the state; qualify is the action taken to reach that state.
- disqualify: To disqualify is to remove someone's eligibility, usually due to a rule violation.
Commonly confused with
- quantify: Quantify means to measure the amount of something; qualify means to meet a standard.
Word family
- qualification (noun): the act of qualifying
- qualified (adjective): having met the requirements
Collocations
- qualify for
- automatically qualify
- qualify as
- fail to qualify
Example sentences
- "She had to run the 100m in under 11 seconds to qualify for the national team." Olympic trials.
- "Only the top two teams from each group will qualify for the knockout stages." Tournament structure.
Memory hook
To qualify, you must have the 'quality' to 'fly' to the finals. Quality + Fly = Qualify.
When not to use
Don't use it to mean 'winning' the final event; it only refers to getting into the event.
Fun facts
- In the early Olympics, athletes had to qualify by proving they were of amateur status.
Related words
Explore more words
eligibility, qualified, make the grade, Stipulate, competency, standard
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