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

Prenga is largely an unknown quantity to the wider public, but his record demands respect: 20 wins, 20 knockouts and one defeat.

From BBC ● Jul. 24, 2026

Sorbitol was consumed in the largest quantity of any individual sweetener, with an average daily intake of 64 mg/day.

From Science Daily ● Jul. 18, 2026

Experts said that while an AI system could conceivably offer some advantages over humans, its accuracy would ultimately depend on the quality and quantity of signatures available for comparison.

From Salon ● Jul. 17, 2026

Star chefs and bakers like Martha Stewart, Jean-Georges Vongerichten and Apollonia Poilâne are fans of his company’s spices and blends, which range from $9 to $36, depending on the product and quantity.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 16, 2026

The mystery to me is that there’s not much worth stealing in the dry-storage room, at least not in any fenceable quantity: “Is Gyorgi here, and am having 200—maybe 250—catsup packets. What do you say?”

From "Nickel and Dimed: On (Not) Getting By in America" by Barbara Ehrenreich

The technology underlying chatbots such as Claude and ChatGPT uses patterns in data by analyzing vast quantities of digital text and video from the internet.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 23, 2026

Those eruptions released vast quantities of CO2 into the atmosphere, driving global temperatures up by an estimated 5 to 10 degrees Celsius.

From Science Daily ● Jul. 22, 2026

For instance, the plane doesn’t have enough refrigerators to store large quantities of food, meaning the president’s meals would need to be transported on different aircraft on long trips.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 20, 2026

Videos from the response on Saturday show helicopters scooping up large quantities of water before dropping it on affected areas.

From BBC ● Jul. 18, 2026

Almost from the moment Europeans arrived, they realized there was coal out there in quantities almost beyond conception.

From "A Walk in the Woods" by Bill Bryson

Related Words

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