secondary quality
noun Epistemology.
one of the qualities attributed by the mind to an object perceived, such as color, temperature, or taste.
Compare
primary quality.
Origin of secondary quality
First recorded in 1690–1700
Words nearby secondary quality
British Dictionary definitions for secondary qualities
secondary qualities
pl n
(in empiricist philosophy) those properties of objects that are explained in terms of the primary properties of their parts, such as heat in terms of the motion of molecules