quantity

[kwon-ti-tee]

noun

plural

quantities 

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.

quantity

/ 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

quantity

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

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

Word History and Origins

Origin of quantity¹

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

Word History and Origins

Origin of quantity¹

C14: from Old French quantité, from Latin quantitās extent, amount, from quantus how much

Idioms and Phrases

see unknown quantity.

Example Sentences

If the tech industry were a bakery, dysprosium would be like baking powder: It is used in small quantities but essential for enabling electric-car motors, wind turbines, military systems and computer-chip machinery.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

Because natural compounds often exist in only tiny quantities, they can be difficult and expensive to produce in the laboratory.

Read more on Science Daily

Bernstein’s Mark Moerdler noted that he’s gotten “not surprisingly, a very large quantity of inbound calls from our clients who have been struggling to understand, model and value the new Oracle.”

Read more on MarketWatch

Roman will have the resolution, sensitivity and infrared wavelength coverage to see these stars and potentially witness their variability as they expel out large quantities of dust near the end of their lives.

Read more on Science Daily

This results in the release of unknown quantities of neurotoxins, carbon monoxide and other chemicals into the air.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

Related Words

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