amount definition | Dictionary.com

a⋅mount

[uh-mount]

–noun

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

2.	the sum of the principal and interest of a loan.

3.	quantity; measure: a great amount of resistance.

4.	the full effect, value, or significance.

–verb (used without object)

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

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

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

Origin:
1250–1300; ME amounten, amunten < AF amo(u)nter, amunter, OF amonter lit., to go up, ascend, prob. a- a- ⁵ + monter (see mount ¹ ); E n. use of v. from early 18th cent.

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 Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
Cite This Source

Link To amount

a·mount (ə-mount')

The total of two or more quantities; the aggregate.
A number; a sum.
A principal plus its interest, as in a loan.
The full effect or meaning; import.
Quantity: a great amount of intelligence.

intr.v. a·mount·ed, a·mount·ing, a·mounts

To add up in number or quantity: The purchases amounted to 50 dollars.
To add up in import or effect: That plan will never amount to anything.
To be equivalent or tantamount: accusations that amount to an indictment.

[From Middle English amounten, to ascend, from Old French amonter, from amont, upward, from Latin ad montem, to the hill : ad, to; see ad- in Indo-European roots + mōns, mont-, hill; see men-² in Indo-European roots.]

The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
Cite This Source

Amount

A*mount"\, v. i. [imp. & p. p. Amounted; p. pr. & vb. n. Amounting.] [OF. amonter to increase, advance, ascend, fr. amont (equiv. to L. ad montem to the mountain) upward, F. amont up the river. See Mount, n.]

1. To go up; to ascend. [Obs.]

So up he rose, and thence amounted straight. --Spenser.

2. To rise or reach by an accumulation of particular sums or quantities; to come (to) in the aggregate or whole; -- with to or unto.

3. To rise, reach, or extend in effect, substance, or influence; to be equivalent; to come practically (to); as, the testimony amounts to very little.

Amount

A*mount"\, v. t. To signify; to amount to. [Obs.]

Amount

A*mount"\, n. 1. The sum total of two or more sums or quantities; the aggregate; the whole quantity; a totality; as, the amount of 7 and 9 is 16; the amount of a bill; the amount of this year's revenue.

2. The effect, substance, value, significance, or result; the sum; as, the amount of the testimony is this.

The whole amount of that enormous fame. --Pope.

Language Translation for : amount

Spanish: ascender a,

German: sich belaufen (auf),

Japanese: 合計～となる

More Translations »

amount (v.)

c.1250, "to go up, rise," from O.Fr. amonter, from à mont "upward," lit. "to the mountain," from L. ad- "to" + montem acc. sing. of "mountain." Meaning "to rise in number or quality (so as to reach)" is from c.1300. The noun is 1710, from the verb.

Search another word or see amount on Thesaurus | Reference

About · Privacy Policy · Terms of Use · Advertise with Us · Link to Us · NASCAR® · Contact Us