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.

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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

The lawsuit said Soilbuild carried out a large amount of due diligence for the proposed deal at Brookfield’s request.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 7, 2026

Investments could drastically change the ultimate amount a person has to spend over the rest of their lifetime, especially as Americans are living longer and spending two or even three or more decades in retirement.

From MarketWatch ● Aug. 7, 2026

"I think that will cause a huge amount of alarm and frustration and anger."

From BBC ● Aug. 7, 2026

Their calculations included the energy needed to travel between Mars and different asteroids, the amount of metal that could realistically be collected, and the fuel required to complete the journey.

From Science Daily ● Aug. 7, 2026

That faucet was very temperamental, had been for years, and no amount of pleading with the super had gotten him to come and fix it.

From "Night Owls" by A.R. Vishny

Using large-scale phospho-proteomic analyses, they found that the therapy caused relatively little change in the total amounts of proteins.

From Science Daily ● Aug. 7, 2026

Large media companies produce endless amounts of entertainment and news.

From Salon ● Aug. 7, 2026

"Almost the entire bill is heading in the same direction. One way or another it amounts to handing over our property, what belongs to us," he told AFP.

From Barron's ● Aug. 7, 2026

"I think a lot of fans spent similar amounts of money, so constantly hearing them asking us to put our phones down made some fans even more frustrated."

From BBC ● Aug. 6, 2026

The heat was getting to me, or the billiard room’s confines, or maybe it was the copious amounts of cigar smoke wafting from the gentlemen on either side of us.

From "The City Beautiful" by Aden Polydoros

In comparison, there were 3.7 million US births in total that same year, CDC figures show,, external meaning babies born to foreign US residents amounted to roughly 0.25% of these.

From BBC ● Aug. 7, 2026

This was "inaccurate for higher earners", the report said, and "amounted to mis-selling".

From BBC ● Aug. 5, 2026

The loss amounted to 9 cents a share, less than the 24-cent forecast by analysts, while revenue topped the $6.81 billion analysts polled by Bloomberg had estimated.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 4, 2026

Last year, sales amounted to 30.66 billion pounds, equivalent to $40.99 billion.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 30, 2026

Until the Chinese-style plow was imported in the seventeenth century, farmers in France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, and other states labored to shove what amounted to a narrow slab of metal through the earth.

From "1491" by Charles C. Mann

But when Kore-eda’s execution isn’t as assured, as is the case with his latest, all that delicacy simply floats off into the ether, rarely amounting to much more than a halfhearted shrug.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 24, 2026

As of July 8, ConserveOhio has collected more than 105,000 signatures, amounting to 25% of the 420,142 required.

From Salon ● Jul. 9, 2026

Green Gen Cymru will now have to pay 60% of the claimant's costs, amounting to £21,000 alongside their own legal fees.

From BBC ● Jul. 6, 2026

"It is essential to minimise the financial burden, amounting to hundreds of trillions of won, as well as the time-related risks faced by companies," said Kim.

From Barron's ● Jun. 29, 2026

On a $2 billion trade—a trade that would, in the end, have transferred a $2 billion loss from Merrill Lynch to Morgan Stanley—the two traders were arguing over interest payments amounting to $800,000 a year.

From "The Big Short" by Michael Lewis

Related Words

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