- Main Entry:
- quan·ti·ty
- Pronunciation:
-
\ˈkwän-tə-tē\
- Function:
- noun
- Inflected Form(s):
- plural quan·ti·ties
- Etymology:
- Middle English quantite, from Anglo-French quantité, from Latin quantitat-, quantitas, from quantus how much, how large; akin to Latin quam how, as, quando when, qui who — more at who
- Date:
- 14th century
1 a: an indefinite amount or number b: a determinate or estimated amount c: total amount or number d: a considerable amount or number —often used in plural <generous quantities of luck — H. E. Putsch>2 a: the aspect in which a thing is measurable in terms of greater, less, or equal or of increasing or decreasing magnitude b: the subject of a mathematical operation c: an individual considered with respect to a given situation <an unknown quantity…as attorney general — Tom Wicker>3 a: duration and intensity of speech sounds as distinct from their individual quality or phonemic character; specifically : the relative length or brevity of a prosodic syllable in some languages (as Greek and Latin) b: the relative duration or time length of a speech sound or sound sequence4: the character of a logical proposition as being universal, particular, or singular
