quantity

[ kwon-ti-tee ]

noun

, plural quan·ti·ties.

1. a particular or indefinite amount of anything:

   a small quantity of milk;

   the ocean's vast quantity of fish.

2. an exact or specified amount or measure:

   Mix the ingredients in the quantities called for.

3. a considerable or great amount:

   to extract ore in quantity.

4. Mathematics.
   1. the property of magnitude involving comparability with other magnitudes.
   2. something having magnitude, or size, extent, amount, or the like.
   3. magnitude, size, volume, area, or length.
5. Music. the length or duration of a note.
6. Logic. the character of a proposition as singular, universal, particular, or mixed, according to the presence or absence of certain kinds of quantifiers.
7. that amount, degree, etc., in terms of which another is greater or lesser.
8. Prosody, Phonetics. the relative duration or length of a sound or a syllable, with respect to the time spent in pronouncing it; length.
9. Law. the nature of an estate as affected by its duration in time.

quantity

/ ˈkwɒntɪtɪ /

noun

1. 1. a specified or definite amount, weight, number, etc
   2. ( as modifier )

      a quantity estimate

2. the aspect or property of anything that can be measured, weighed, counted, etc
3. a large or considerable amount
4. maths an entity having a magnitude that may be denoted by a numerical expression
5. physics a specified magnitude or amount; the product of a number and a unit
6. logic the characteristic of a proposition dependent on whether it is a universal or particular statement, considering all or only part of a class
7. prosody the relative duration of a syllable or the vowel in it

quantity

/ kwŏn′tĭ-tē /

1. Something, such as a number or symbol that represents a number, on which a mathematical operation is performed.

Usage

The use of a plural noun after quantity of as in a large quantity of bananas was formerly considered incorrect, but is now acceptable

Word History and Origins

Origin of quantity¹

First recorded in 1250–1300; Middle English quantite, from Old French, from Latin quantitās, from quant(us) “how much” + -itās -ity

Word History and Origins

Origin of quantity¹

C14: from Old French quantité, from Latin quantitās extent, amount, from quantus how much

Idioms and Phrases

see unknown quantity .

Example Sentences

First, we need to change the debate—to focus at least as much on the quality of resources as the quantity.

From The Daily Beast

Online, a huge quantity of content is impossible to access for people with disabilities.

From The Daily Beast

Bill Cosby was already a known quantity when The Cosby Show began in 1984.

From The Daily Beast

In short, the small producers will suffer the most, both in their production quantity and potentially in the style of their wines.

From The Daily Beast

Any significant quantity of ZMapp appears to be months away even if another company with a larger facility joins in the effort.

From The Daily Beast

The phloridzin test consists in the hypodermic injection of a small quantity of phloridzin.

From Project Gutenberg

In acute and chronic parenchymatous nephritis the quantity is usually very large.

From Project Gutenberg

They also seized the lake gunboats, took an entire Spanish garrison prisoner, and captured a large quantity of stores.

From Project Gutenberg

There are two forms of elasticity, one of quantity and the other of quality, both provided for in the act.

From Project Gutenberg

When the quantity is very small there may be no cough, the sputum reaching the larynx by action of the bronchial cilia.

From Project Gutenberg

Related Words

• abundance
• batch
• bulk
• capacity
• length
• load
• pile
• portion
• quota
• size
• sum
• variety
• volume