sum total

noun

1. complete numerical total:

   the sum total of my savings.

2. essence; substance:

   The sum total of research in the field.

Word History and Origins

Origin of sum total¹

Middle English word dating back to 1350–1400

Idioms and Phrases

The entirety, everything, as in I spent all day in the kitchen and the sum total of my efforts is this cake . [Mid-1600s]

Example Sentences

The stock markets, meanwhile — the sum total of public equities — are worth an estimated $48 trillion.

From Freakonomics

I had seen a distant spout once, when crossing the Atlantic by boat, but that was my sum total exposure to any whale species.

From Nautilus

This all puts an organization’s attack surface—the sum total of the nooks and crannies hackers can pry into—at risk.

From MIT Technology Review

This is the sum total of what I’ve learned about how to keep your stuff at its best.

From Outside Online

Leibniz, on the other hand, claimed that space and time were nothing more than the sum total of distances and durations between all the objects and events of the world.

From Singularity Hub 

When asked if that was “the sum total of the conversation about that,” Jackson replied, “Uh-huh, correct.”

From The Daily Beast

The sum total of these moves seem aimed at putting the kibosh on diplomacy.

From The Daily Beast

But the insured losses for insurance companies may not reflect the sum total of economic damage suffered by the region.

From The Daily Beast

I think most people who know John recognize that this mistake is not the sum total of who he is.

From The Daily Beast

It is the sum total of all the science fiction movies that have come before.

From The Daily Beast

There need be no fear that with shortened hours of labor the sum total of production would fall short of human needs.

From Project Gutenberg

For what we call mind exists, and it must be contained in the sum-total of existence, or how could it arise out of it?

From Project Gutenberg

It would hold the sum-total of all moneys disbursed, even if they were reduced to the standard of vulgar copper.

From Project Gutenberg

It was of no more consequence in the sum total than the life of some obscure individual in the teeming millions of the earth.

From Project Gutenberg

Here was my favorite text, here my sum total of speculative philosophy.

From Project Gutenberg

Related Words

• summation
• totality