quantity

American  

[kwon-ti-tee] / ˈkwɒn tɪ ti /

noun

• quantities
  plural

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.

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quantity British  

/ 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

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quantity Scientific  

/ kwŏn′tĭ-tē /

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

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quantity Idioms  

1. see unknown quantity.

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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

Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• quantities
  plural

Etymology

Origin of quantity

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

Explanation

Quantity tells you “how much.” If you're concerned with quantity not quality, it's more important how many you have than how good they are. If you get confused about quantity vs. quality, remember that quant is close to count. In Latin, quantus means “how great” or “how much.” When you count how many oranges are in a bowl, you know the quantity. When you count the grains of sand in a desert, you're counting a very large quantity . . . and you need a new hobby.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

quantity quantities

The same quantity of gold was moved from Zeist to London, preventing the melting down of gold bars.

From Barron's ● Sep. 2, 2026

Experts believe that a vast quantity of rock and ice fell from around 16,000 feet, possibly due to the partial collapse of a glacier, and plunged 4,000 feet into the valley below.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 28, 2026

"The wavefunction is a fundamental quantity in quantum mechanics, yet it cannot be directly observed or measured," explains Professor Stefan Mathias at the University of Göttingen.

From Science Daily ● Aug. 24, 2026

But this Liverpool squad must improve, both in terms of quality and quantity.

From BBC ● Aug. 23, 2026

On his tour of the dining hall he collected a good quantity of cutlery and some fine antique cruets.

From "Redwall" by Brian Jacques

The collapse swept up vast quantities of loose material as it descended, helping create an exceptionally destructive and fast-moving flow.

From Barron's ● Sep. 4, 2026

Further, Mr. Stier’s suggestion that China is purchasing significant quantities of American sulfur and thereby threatening supplies for U.S. farmers is not supported by the trade data.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 4, 2026

Then again, Telluride has never depended entirely on known quantities; films such as “Slumdog Millionaire” and “Moonlight” arrived with relatively modest expectations and left as major contenders.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 3, 2026

But when water from intense rain, melting ice or a sudden discharge mixes with huge quantities of sediment, the result can become a thick, high-energy slurry capable of destroying almost everything in its path.

From BBC ● Sep. 3, 2026

The central limit theorem states that under a wide variety of circumstances this will always be the case—averages and sums of nonnormally distributed quantities will nevertheless themselves have a normal distribution.

From "Innumeracy: Mathematical Illiteracy and Its Consequences" by John Allen Paulos

Related Words

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