qualifier

noun

1. One who qualifies for something, especially a contestant who qualifies for a stage in a competition.

2. A preliminary stage of a competition.

3. grammarA word or phrase, such as an adjective or adverb, that describes or characterizes another word or phrase, such as a noun or verb; a modifier; that adds or subtracts attributes to another.

4. computingprogrammingA marker that qualifies or modifies another code element.

5. A contestant who meets certain requirements and so qualifies to take part in the next stage of competitionperson

   “the tournament was won by a late qualifier”