amount

[uh-mount]

noun

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

the sum of the principal and interest of a loan.

quantity; measure: a great amount of resistance.

the full effect, value, or significance.

verb (used without object)

to total; add (usually followed by to): The repair bill amounts to $300.

to reach, extend, or be equal in number, quantity, effect, etc.; be equivalent (usually followed by to): It is stated differently but amounts to the same thing.

to develop into; become (usually followed by to): With his intelligence, he should amount to something when he grows up.

Origin of amount

1250–1300; Middle English amounten, amunten < Anglo-French amo(u)nter, amunter, Old French amonter literally, to go up, ascend, probably a- a-⁵ + monter (see mount¹); E noun use of v. from early 18th cent.

Can be confusedamount number (see usage note at the current entry)

Usage note

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 ).

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Related Words for amounting

load, bulk, extent, supply, chunk, number, volume, lot, measure, ton, product, outlay, sum, budget, damage, cost, output, expense, import, burden

Examples from the Web for amounting

Contemporary Examples of amounting

Fusari's lawsuit contains six claims, five of them amounting to $5 million each, and a sixth amounting to $10 million.
Gaga's Enemy
Jacob Bernstein
March 23, 2010
Swedish banks have similarly disastrous loans to the Baltic countries, amounting to 30 percent of its gross domestic product.
Europe's Can-Do Spirit
Katty Kay
March 15, 2009

Historical Examples of amounting

You agree to settle your fortune after your decease, amounting to L23,000.
Night and Morning, Complete
Edward Bulwer-Lytton
The losses on both sides probably were about even, amounting to at least 5,000.
The Story of the Great War, Volume II (of VIII)
Various
They were alive with intelligence, amounting, indeed, to craft.
The Historical Nights Entertainment, Second Series
Rafael Sabatini
They saw the applications, amounting in all to over ninety thousand shares.
The Market-Place
Harold Frederic
Their losses were heavy, both in ships and men, amounting to about 30 per cent.
Submarine Warfare of To-day
Charles W. Domville-Fife

British Dictionary definitions for amounting

amount

noun

extent; quantity; supply

the total of two or more quantities; sum

the full value, effect, or significance of something

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

verb

(intr usually foll by to) to be equal or add up in effect, meaning, or quantity

Word Origin for amount

C13: from Old French amonter to go up, from amont upwards, from a to + mont mountain (from Latin mōns)

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

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for amounting

amount

late 13c., "to go up, rise, mount (a horse)," from Old French amonter, from a mont "upward," literally "to the mountain," from Latin ad- "to" (see ad-) + montem (nominative mons) "mountain" (see mount (n.)). Meaning "to rise in number or quality (so as to reach)" is from c.1300. Related: Amounted; amounting.

amount

1710, from amount (v.).