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amount

 - 3 dictionary results

a⋅mount

  [uh-mount]
Use amount in a Sentence
–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')   
n.  

  1. The total of two or more quantities; the aggregate.

  2. A number; a sum.

  3. A principal plus its interest, as in a loan.

  4. The full effect or meaning; import.

  5. Quantity: a great amount of intelligence.

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

  1. To add up in number or quantity: The purchases amounted to 50 dollars.

  2. To add up in import or effect: That plan will never amount to anything.

  3. 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.
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Word Origin & History

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.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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