amount
[uh-mount]
- 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.
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- 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.
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Origin of amount
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. 2018
Related Words
loadbulkextentsupplychunknumbervolumelotmeasuretonproductoutlaysumbudgetdamagecostoutputexpenseimportburdenExamples from the Web for amounting
Contemporary Examples
Fusari's lawsuit contains six claims, five of them amounting to $5 million each, and a sixth amounting to $10 million.
Swedish banks have similarly disastrous loans to the Baltic countries, amounting to 30 percent of its gross domestic product.
Historical Examples
You agree to settle your fortune after your decease, amounting to L23,000.
Night and Morning, CompleteEdward Bulwer-Lytton
The losses on both sides probably were about even, amounting to at least 5,000.
They were alive with intelligence, amounting, indeed, to craft.
The Historical Nights Entertainment, Second SeriesRafael Sabatini
They saw the applications, amounting in all to over ninety thousand shares.
The Market-PlaceHarold Frederic
Their losses were heavy, both in ships and men, amounting to about 30 per cent.
Submarine Warfare of To-dayCharles W. Domville-Fife
amount
- 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
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- (intr usually foll by to) to be equal or add up in effect, meaning, or quantity
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Word Origin
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
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Word Origin and History for amounting
amount
v.
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.
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amount
n.
1710, from amount (v.).
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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper