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quantity - 7 dictionary results

quan⋅ti⋅ty

  [kwon-ti-tee]
Use quantity in a Sentence
–noun, plural -ties.
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.
a. the property of magnitude involving comparability with other magnitudes.
b. something having magnitude, or size, extent, amount, or the like.
c. 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.
Origin:
1250–1300; ME quantite < OF < L quantitās, equiv. to quant(us) how much + -itās -ity
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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quan·ti·ty   (kwŏn'tĭ-tē)   
n.   pl. quan·ti·ties
    1. A specified or indefinite number or amount.
    2. A considerable amount or number: sells drugs wholesale and in quantity.
    3. An exact amount or number.
    4. Linguistics The relative amount of time needed to pronounce a vowel, consonant, or syllable.
    5. The duration of a syllable in quantitative verse.
  2. The measurable, countable, or comparable property or aspect of a thing.
  3. Mathematics Something that serves as the object of an operation.
    1. Linguistics The relative amount of time needed to pronounce a vowel, consonant, or syllable.
    2. The duration of a syllable in quantitative verse.
  5. Logic The exact character of a proposition in reference to its universality, singularity, or particularity.

[Middle English quantite, from Old French, from Latin quantitās, quantitāt-, from quantus, how great; see kwo- 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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Quantity

Quan"ti*ty\, v. t. [L. quantus now much + -fy.] To modify or qualify with respect to quantity; to fix or express the quantity of; to rate.

Quantity

Quan"ti*ty\, n.; pl. Quantities. [F. quantite, L. quantitas, fr. quantus bow great, how much, akin to quam bow, E. how, who. See Who.]

1. The attribute of being so much, and not more or less; the property of being measurable, or capable of increase and decrease, multiplication and division; greatness; and more concretely, that which answers the question "How much?"; measure in regard to bulk or amount; determinate or comparative dimensions; measure; amount; bulk; extent; size. Hence, in specific uses: (a) (Logic) The extent or extension of a general conception, that is, the number of species or individuals to which it may be applied; also, its content or comprehension, that is, the number of its constituent qualities, attributes, or relations. (b) (Gram.) The measure of a syllable; that which determines the time in which it is pronounced; as, the long or short quantity of a vowel or syllable. (c) (Mus.) The relative duration of a tone.

2. That which can be increased, diminished, or measured; especially (Math.), anything to which mathematical processes are applicable.

Note: Quantity is discrete when it is applied to separate objects, as in number; continuous, when the parts are connected, either in succession, as in time, motion, etc., or in extension, as by the dimensions of space, viz., length, breadth, and thickness.

3. A determinate or estimated amount; a sum or bulk; a certain portion or part; sometimes, a considerable amount; a large portion, bulk, or sum; as, a medicine taken in quantities, that is, in large quantities.

The quantity of extensive and curious information which he had picked up during many months of desultory, but not unprofitable, study. --Macaulay.

Quantity of estate (Law), its time of continuance, or degree of interest, as in fee, for life, or for years. --Wharton (Law Dict. )

Quantity of matter, in a body, its mass, as determined by its weight, or by its momentum under a given velocity.

Quantity of motion (Mech.), in a body, the relative amount of its motion, as measured by its momentum, varying as the product of mass and velocity.

Known quantities (Math.), quantities whose values are given.

Unknown quantities (Math.), quantities whose values are sought.
Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc.
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Language Translation for : quantity
Spanish: cantidad,
German: die Menge,
Japanese: 量
More Translations »

quantity 
c.1325, from O.Fr. quantite (Fr. quantité), from L. quantitatem (nom. quantitas, coined as a loan-translation of Gk. posotes) "relative greatness or extent," from quantus "how much," from quam "how, how much."
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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quantity   (kwŏn'tĭ-tē)  Pronunciation Key 
Something, such as a number or symbol that represents a number, on which a mathematical operation is performed.
The American Heritage® Science Dictionary
Copyright © 2002. Published by Houghton Mifflin. All rights reserved.
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quantity

see unknown quantity.

The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer.
Copyright © 1997. Published by Houghton Mifflin.
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