amount

American  

[uh-mount] / əˈmaʊnt /

noun

• amounts
  plural

1. the sum total of two or more quantities or sums; aggregate.

2. the sum of the principal and interest of a loan.

3. quantity; measure.

   a great amount of resistance.

4. the full effect, value, or significance.

---

verb (used without object)

• amounts,
  present (3rd person singular)
• amounted,
  past participle,  past
• amounting
  present participle

1. to total; add (usually followed byto ).

   The repair bill amounts to $300.

2. to reach, extend, or be equal in number, quantity, effect, etc.; be equivalent (usually followed byto ).

   It is stated differently but amounts to the same thing.

3. to develop into; become (usually followed byto ).

   With his intelligence, he should amount to something when he grows up.

amount British  

/ əˈmaʊnt /

noun

1. extent; quantity; supply

2. the total of two or more quantities; sum

3. the full value, effect, or significance of something

4. a principal sum plus the interest on it, as in a loan

---

verb

1. to be equal or add up in effect, meaning, or quantity

Usage

The use of a plural noun after amount of (an amount of bananas; the amount of refugees ) should be avoided: a quantity of bananas; the number of refugees

Commonly Confused

The traditional distinction between amount and number is that amount is used with mass or uncountable nouns ( the amount of paperwork; the amount of energy ) and number with countable nouns ( a number of songs; a number of days ). Although objected to, the use of amount instead of number with countable nouns occurs in both speech and writing, especially when the noun can be considered as a unit or group ( the amount of people present; the amount of weapons ) or when it refers to money ( the amount of dollars paid; the amount of pennies in the till ).

Other Word Forms

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• amounts
  plural

Participles

• amounting
  present
• amounted
  past

Conjugated Forms

Present

• amount
  simple
• amounts
  simple
• have amounted
  perfect
• has amounted
  perfect
• am amounting
  progressive
• are amounting
  progressive
• is amounting
  progressive
• have been amounting
  perfect progressive
• has been amounting
  perfect progressive

Past

• amounted
  simple
• had amounted
  perfect
• was amounting
  progressive
• were amounting
  progressive
• had been amounting
  perfect progressive

Future

• will amount
  simple
• will have amounted
  perfect
• will be amounting
  progressive
• will have been amounting
  perfect progressive

Etymology

Origin of amount

First recorded in 1250–1300; Middle English verb amounten, amunten, from Anglo-French amo(u)nter, amunter, Old French amonter literally, “to go up, ascend,” probably a- + monter; noun use of verb from early 18th century; see a- ⁵, mount ¹

Explanation

An amount is a number, or quantity, of something. If you're surprised by the amount of work you have to do at your new job, you probably didn't expect such a long list of tasks. You might complain about the amount of time it takes for the shoes you bought to arrive: amount here means the number of days before you can wear them. Amount is also a verb, meaning "add up to," like when you hope the tips you earn will amount to more than minimum wage. This meaning came before the noun amount, from the now obsolete definition, "to mount a horse," from the Old French amonter, "upward."

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

amount amounts amounted amounting

As the wall became thicker, the amount of space inside the chamber was reduced.

From Science Daily ● Sep. 11, 2026

The amount of money she raised has not been made public, but it will go towards a new unit offering complementary healing alongside clinical care.

From BBC ● Sep. 11, 2026

“In about five years, we have vastly increased the amount of battery storage that is available to us,” said Ackemann, “and that is great news.”

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 11, 2026

Nepal estimates the reconstruction bill after deadly floods sparked by a glacial mountain collapse last month will amount to $4.78 billion, the foreign ministry said on Friday.

From Barron's ● Sep. 11, 2026

When it was finally completed, the conservation of the Mary Rose took much longer than the total amount of time that the ship had spent serving her king and country.

From "Shipwrecked!" by Martin W. Sandler

Data centers, which require enormous amounts of power, could also see substantial reductions in energy use, potentially leading to significant climate benefits.

From Science Daily ● Sep. 11, 2026

But training such AI models requires vast amounts of high-quality climate and Earth observation data, and significant computing power.

From Barron's ● Sep. 11, 2026

The expectations do represent dollar value amounts, and employees get weekly updates based on how they’re tracking toward them.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 10, 2026

Some critics think apocalyptic language amounts to a sick form of marketing from A.I. insiders who want to tout their models’ power to investors.

From Slate ● Sep. 9, 2026

Because I was the best student in Professor Gordon’s class, trumping even Elliot, which brought me huge amounts of satisfaction.

From "Glitch" by Laura Martin

Multiple charities protested what they said amounted to a “social cleansing.”

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 4, 2026

Faculty complaints have amounted to nothing and the school is vindicated.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 30, 2026

Patterson's lawyers are now arguing the hotel mix-up amounted to a "fundamental irregularity" which "fatally undermined" the integrity of the verdicts.

From BBC ● Aug. 22, 2026

The prosecution's case is that Ajay Pant was the "master of the ship" and had "knowledge of the cargo", which amounted to some 98,000 tonnes of oil.

From Barron's ● Aug. 21, 2026

I was going to have to learn to hunt and gather and garden on what amounted to a different planet, full of animals and plants I didn’t know.

From "The Omnivore's Dilemma" by Michael Pollan

Two city-owned parcels amounting to almost a half-acre of land were needed to build the museum.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 10, 2026

The total 100,000 cuts will be the largest restructuring ever carried out in the global automotive industry, amounting to about 15 percent of the carmaker's staff worldwide.

From Barron's ● Sep. 3, 2026

The agreement grants a US-led company 100-year concessions over 17 oilfields in Venezuela, amounting to a staggering 65 billion barrels of crude.

From BBC ● Sep. 1, 2026

The note and other evidence persuaded an appeals court in 2024 to order Chey to give his ex-wife 35% of his assets, amounting to nearly $1 billion at the time.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 23, 2026

With what he calls “that quick detective intuition amounting almost to inspiration,” he knows that Booth’s escape options are limited.

From "Lincoln's Last Days: The Shocking Assassination that Changed America Forever" by Bill O'Reilly

Related Words

• budget
• cost
• damage
• expense
• extent
• lot
• outlay
• output
• price tag
• product
• sum