aggregate

adjective ag·gre·gate \ ˈa-gri-gət \

Definition of aggregate

:formed by the collection of units or particles into a body, mass, or amount :collective: such as

a (1) :clustered in a dense mass or head

an aggregate flower

(2) :formed from several separate ovaries of a single flower

aggregate fruit

b :composed of mineral crystals of one or more kinds or of mineral rock fragments

c :taking all units as a whole

aggregate sales

—

aggregately

adverb

—

aggregateness

noun

See aggregate defined for English-language learners

See aggregate defined for kids

aggregate was our Word of the Day on 08/24/2008. Hear the podcast!

Examples of aggregate in a Sentence

There were to be thirty-seven playgrounds, twenty schools. There were to be a hundred and thirty-three miles of street, paved with an inch and a half of No. 2 macadam on an aggregate base. —Joan Didion, New Yorker, 26 July 1993
Their success at opening up new sources of supply, generating and servicing demand, and connecting new markets with the processing industries of the Amsterdam entrepôt seemed … to belie the axiom of an inelastic aggregate volume of world trade—a zero-sum competition. —Simon Schama, The Embarrassment of Riches, 1988
The mulberry looks a bit like a raspberry. But the raspberry (along with the other brambles, members of the genus Rubus, such as the blackberry) is an aggregate fruit generated by a single, if complex, flower. —Raymond Sokolov, Natural History, October 1986
With Keynes, standard theory conceded that disequilibria might intrude upon the economy as a whole, but it held that these could be remedied by judicious stabilization of aggregate demand—that is, combined government and consumer purchasing power. —Robert Kuttner, Atlantic, February 1985
The university receives more than half its aggregate income from government sources.
The team with the highest aggregate score wins.

Recent Examples of aggregate from the Web

Madrid dominated Barcelona 5-1 on aggregate to win the Spanish Super Cup on Wednesday, only eight days after dispensing with Manchester United 2-1 in the European Super Cup.

— drew champlin, AL.com, "Barcelona vs. Real Betis live stream: Watch La Liga online," 20 Aug. 2017
Barca’s offense seemed to miss Neymar during last week’s 5-1 aggregate loss to Real Madrid in the Super Cup.

— michelle kaufman, miamiherald, "Somber mood as FC Barcelona opens season at home Sunday," 19 Aug. 2017
Their aggregate walls were unfavorably likened to peanut brittle.

— blair kamin, chicagotribune.com, "New Yale residential colleges: A strong sense of place, dimmed by excess," 17 Aug. 2017
That is not easy — and there is a very human temptation to discriminate against an individual based on aggregate group characteristics.

— andrew sullivan, Daily Intelligencer, "Trump’s Reckless Nuclear Bluffing," 11 Aug. 2017
The return to aggregate growth is largely thanks to Brazil and Argentina, which are coming out of recessions.

— The Economist, "Latin America’s disappointing economic growth," 20 July 2017
Field: 156 players Playoff (if necessary): 4 holes, aggregate score.

— doug ferguson, kansascity, "Rory McIlroy hoping to catch his wave at British Open," 19 July 2017
The teams played to a 28-28 tie in the first leg last week in Hamilton, Ontario, setting up a winner-take-all scenario Saturday in the total aggregate series.

— mark zeigler, sandiegouniontribune.com, "Rugby World Cup qualifier in San Diego," 30 June 2017
Detroit Lakes won the team competition with an aggregate score of 649.

— dane mizutani, Twin Cities, "Visitation’s Anni Heck goes out on top with Class 2A girls golf title," 14 June 2017

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'aggregate.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Origin and Etymology of aggregate

Middle English aggregat, from Latin aggregatus, past participle of aggregare to add to, from ad- + greg-, grex flock

NEW! Time Traveler

First Known Use: 15th century

See Words from the same year

aggregate

verb ag·gre·gate \ ˈa-gri-ˌgāt \

Definition of aggregate

aggregated; aggregating

transitive verb

1 :to collect or gather into a mass or whole

The census data were aggregated by gender.

2 :to amount to (a whole sum or total) :total

audiences aggregating several million people

See aggregate defined for English-language learners

Examples of aggregate in a Sentence

The problem, in this case, is that the synergy creates incentives for segregation. Ethnic advertisers scour the TV schedule for shows and channels that "aggregate" viewers of the type the client wants to reach … —Tamar Jacoby, New Republic, 24 Jan. 2000
"We are good at aggregating eyeballs and delivering services," says Barry Schuler, the president of AOL Interactive Services, "and the Time Warner deal is a natural extension of that." —Barry Schuler, Fortune, 7 Feb. 2000
Pollsters, for the most part, know perfectly well what they are doing. One thing they are doing is aggregating and averaging ephemeral spasms of "mood" that may have commercial or political value. —Christopher Hitchens, Harper's, April 1992
… covered only if each of the corporations involved has capital, surplus and undivided profits aggregating more than $10 million … —Joe Sims et al., National Law Journal, 28 Jan. 1991
The Web site aggregates content from many other sites.
over time, her petty thefts aggregated a significant shortfall in the company's books

Recent Examples of aggregate from the Web

The land, which was aggregated into one big supercontinent, was also covered in mile-thick ice.

— ed yong, The Atlantic, "The Origin Story of Animals Is a Song of Ice and Fire," 16 Aug. 2017
If the energy firms’ lobbying totals are aggregated, the total would come to about $875,000, in second place but well behind API.

— michael dresser, baltimoresun.com, "Petroleum industry leads Maryland lobbying spenders — but lost," 25 July 2017
For example, most of the studies aggregated in her research focused on people who were actively trying to lose weight or who had other medical conditions, such as high blood pressure.

— cleve r. wootson jr., chicagotribune.com, "Diet drinks are associated with weight gain, new research suggests," 18 July 2017
Some of this information is also already aggregated in private, by political parties and commercial vendors who advertise the ability to look people up for a nominal fee, though that information doesn't necessarily come just from voting rolls.

— tal kopan, CNN, "What the federal government can get from your voter file," 5 July 2017
Seattle statistical model, aggregating areas outside King County but within the state that had previously shown numbers and trends similar to Seattle’s labor market.

— janet i. tu, The Seattle Times, "UW study finds Seattle’s minimum wage is costing jobs," 26 June 2017
The equation includes the year of retirement when the pension would become available and the percentage of yearly compensation aggregated through a career.

— hillary davis, Daily Pilot, "How 5 O.C. cities are working to pull down the rising cost of a pension ‘mess’," 23 June 2017
Allen West, the former Congressman, has a website that looks a lot like Palin’s and also runs aggregated content.

— olivia nuzzi, Daily Intelligencer, "Sarah Palin’s Latest Business Venture: Running a Right-Wing Content Farm," 22 June 2017
Another important way to reduce narrow framing is to aggregate our financial accounts.

— shlomo benartzi, WSJ, "As an Investor, Do You Suffer from ‘Narrow Framing’?," 11 June 2017

Origin and Etymology of aggregate

see ¹aggregate

NEW! Time Traveler

First Known Use: 15th century

See Words from the same year

aggregate Synonyms

Synonyms

add up (to), amount (to), come (to), count (up to), number, sum (to or into), total

Related Words

average, equal, measure, reach; compose, comprise, constitute, make up

aggregate

noun ag·gre·gate \ ˈa-gri-gət \

Definition of aggregate

1 :a mass or body of units or parts somewhat loosely associated with one another

Froth is an aggregate of tiny bubbles.

2 :the whole sum or amount :sum total

spent an aggregate of 10 million dollars in advertising during the past three years

3 a :a rock composed of mineral crystals of one or more kinds or of mineral rock fragments :an aggregate rock

b :any of several hard inert materials (such as sand, gravel, or slag) used for mixing with a cementing material to form concrete, mortar, or plaster

c :a clustered mass of individual soil particles varied in shape, ranging in size from a microscopic granule to a small crumb, and considered the basic structural unit of soil

4 :set 21

5 :monetary aggregate

— in the aggregate

:considered as a whole :collectively

Dividends for the year amounted in the aggregate to 25 million dollars.

See aggregate defined for English-language learners

Examples of aggregate in a Sentence

In particular, a core of popular politically minded blogs known in the aggregate as the Blogosphere has been a beehive of furious activity. Or should I say a wasp's nest? —Steven Levy, Newsweek, 4 Oct. 2004
It's true that our lives are the aggregate of a lot of little things, that's precisely why, at least once a year, we need to ride the wave of something bigger and bolder than our own little humdrum existence. —Will Manley, Booklist, 1 Sept. 2002
Smallness of enterprises, as in the Japanese bicycle-manufacturing development, is an asset because smallness cuts down administrative and other overhead costs both in individual enterprises and in the aggregate, in comparison with the overhead costs of large operations. —Jane Jacobs, Cities and the Wealth of Nations, (1984) 1985
numerous episodes of pilferage, taken in the aggregate, can really add up to a significant sum

Recent Examples of aggregate from the Web

The free-spenders have started off the new season just as the fans will have hoped - Vincenzo Montella's side have recorded three consecutive wins and secured qualification for the Europa League after battering Shkendija Tetovo 7-0 on aggregate.

— SI.com, "AC Milan Continue Summer Recruitment Process by Completing the Signing of Real Madrid Youngster," 27 Aug. 2017
Liverpool advanced, 6-3 on aggregate, and will be in the pot of third seeds in Thursday’s draw as England’s fifth representative in Europe’s elite club competition.

— New York Times, "Red Sox Beat Corey Kluber and the Indians," 23 Aug. 2017
Watch Real Madrid and Barcelona and La Liga action this season on FuBoTV (free trial) Real Madrid takes a 3-1 lead into the second leg on aggregate.

— drew champlin, AL.com, "Real Madrid vs. Barcelona live stream, TV: Watch Spanish Super Cup online," 16 Aug. 2017
In aggregate, spreads have tightened to levels not seen in three years, a trend the retail subgroup has completely bucked.

— lorcan roche kelly, Bloomberg.com, "Five Things You Need to Know to Start Your Day," 10 Aug. 2017
However, the original idea for the venture was based more on a physical structure than an aggregate of various projects.

— kate sierzputowski, Chicago Reader, "The Floating Museum literally becomes a floating museum," 9 Aug. 2017
In the aggregate, those tweaks to the exchanges are the largest shift in the new BCRA.

— vann r. newkirk ii, The Atlantic, "Everything's Negotiable Except Cutting Medicaid," 13 July 2017
Metro Ports handles a wide range of bulk and breakbulk cargoes around the country, including aggregates, potash, coke, coal, cement, fertilizer, borax, bauxite, military, steel, wind energy, yachts and project cargo, according to the the Ports.

— karen caffarini, Post-Tribune, "Ports of Indiana names new bulk terminal operator," 2 July 2017
When CEO Jeff Bezos talked about the lending program in an April 2016 shareholder letter, the aggregate funding totaled about $1.5 billion.

— Ángel gonzález, The Seattle Times, "Amazon lends $3B to Marketplace merchants, banking on their growth," 7 June 2017

Did You Know?

We added "aggregate" to our flock of Latin borrowings in the 15th century. It descends from "aggregare" ("to add to"), a Latin verb made up of the prefix ad- (which means "to," and which usually changes to "ag-" before a "g") and "greg-" or "grex" (meaning "flock"). "Greg-" also gave us "congregate," "gregarious," and "segregate." "Aggregate" is commonly employed in the phrase "in the aggregate," which means "considered as a whole" (as in the sentence "In the aggregate, the student's various achievements were sufficiently impressive to merit a scholarship"). "Aggregate" also has some specialized senses. For example, it is used for a mass of minerals formed into a rock and for a material, such as sand or gravel, used to form concrete, mortar, or plaster.

Origin and Etymology of aggregate

see ¹aggregate

NEW! Time Traveler

First Known Use: 15th century

See Words from the same year

aggregate Synonyms

Synonyms

whole, full, sum, summation, sum total, total, totality

Related Words

gross; completeness, comprehensiveness, cumulativeness, entirety; bulk, lion's share, mass; enchilada, schmear

Near Antonyms

net

Other Geology Terms

anthracite, boulder, cwm, erratic, igneous, intrusive, mesa, sedimentary, silt, swale

AGGREGATE Defined for English Language Learners

aggregate

adjective

Definition of aggregate for English Language Learners

: formed by adding together two or more amounts

aggregate

verb

Definition of aggregate for English Language Learners

: to join or combine into a single group
: to equal a specified number or amount

aggregate

noun

Definition of aggregate for English Language Learners

: a total amount

AGGREGATE Defined for Kids

aggregate

verb ag·gre·gate \ ˈa-gri-ˌgāt \

Definition of aggregate for Students

aggregated; aggregating

:to collect or gather into a mass or whole

The particles of sand aggregated into giant dunes.

aggregate

noun ag·gre·gate \ ˈa-gri-gət \

Definition of aggregate for Students

1 :a mass or body of units or parts

The rock is an aggregate of several minerals.

2 :the whole sum or amount

They won by an aggregate of 30 points.

Medical Dictionary

aggregate

adjective ag·gre·gate \ ˈag-ri-gət \

medical Definition of aggregate

:formed by the collection of units or particles into a body, mass, or amount

—

aggregation

play \ˌag-ri-ˈgā-shən\ noun

- It is now known that these calcifications represent focal aggregations of calcium hydroxyapatite …
- —Medical Radiography & Photography, 1982

aggregate

transitive verb ag·gre·gate \ -ˌgāt \

medical Definition of aggregate

aggregated; aggregating

:to collect or gather into a mass or whole

aggregated human albumin

aggregate

noun ag·gre·gate \ -gət \

medical Definition of aggregate

:a mass or body of units or parts somewhat loosely associated with one another

Law Dictionary

aggregate

adjective ag·gre·gate \ ˈa-grə-gət \

legal Definition of aggregate

:taken as a total

aggregate liability

aggregate

verb ag·gre·gate \ ˈa-grə-ˌgāt \

legal Definition of aggregate

aggregated; aggregating

transitive verb

1 :to combine or gather into a whole

class members may aggregate their individual claims

— compare join

2 :to amount to

an award aggregating $100,000

intransitive verb

:to form an aggregate

they may not aggregate if their claims are regarded as “separate and distinct”
—J. M. Landers et al.

aggregate

noun ag·gre·gate \ ˈa-grə-gət \

legal Definition of aggregate

1 :total amount

may sue in federal court if the aggregate of the claims exceeds $75,000

2 :a whole made up of individual units

the aggregate of operative facts

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See words that rhyme with aggregate Thesaurus: All synonyms and antonyms for aggregate Spanish Central: Translation of aggregate Nglish: Translation of aggregate for Spanish speakers Britannica English: Translation of aggregate for Arabic speakers Britannica.com: Encyclopedia article about aggregate

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aggregate

Definition of aggregate

aggregately

aggregateness

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aggregate was our Word of the Day on 08/24/2008. Hear the podcast!

Examples of aggregate in a Sentence

Recent Examples of aggregate from the Web

Origin and Etymology of aggregate

aggregate

Definition of aggregate

Examples of aggregate in a Sentence

Recent Examples of aggregate from the Web

Origin and Etymology of aggregate

aggregate Synonyms

Synonyms

Related Words

aggregate

Definition of aggregate

Examples of aggregate in a Sentence

Recent Examples of aggregate from the Web

Did You Know?

Origin and Etymology of aggregate

aggregate Synonyms

Synonyms

Related Words

Near Antonyms

Other Geology Terms

Phrases Related to AGGREGATE

Related Phrases

AGGREGATE Defined for English Language Learners

aggregate

Definition of aggregate for English Language Learners

aggregate

Definition of aggregate for English Language Learners

aggregate

Definition of aggregate for English Language Learners

AGGREGATE Defined for Kids

aggregate

Definition of aggregate for Students

aggregate

Definition of aggregate for Students

Medical Dictionary

aggregate

medical Definition of aggregate

aggregation

aggregate

medical Definition of aggregate

aggregate

medical Definition of aggregate

Law Dictionary

aggregate

legal Definition of aggregate

aggregate

legal Definition of aggregate

aggregate

legal Definition of aggregate

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