amount

verb

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\ ə-ˈmau̇nt

amounted; amounting; amounts

Definition of amount

(Entry 1 of 2)

intransitive verb

1a : to be the same in meaning or effect as acts that amount to treason

b : to reach in kind or quality : to turn out to be wanted her son to amount to something [=to be successful] The changes don't really amount to much. [=are not really substantial or significant]

2 : to reach a total : add up The bill amounts to $10.

amount

noun

Definition of amount (Entry 2 of 2)

1a : the total number or quantity : aggregate trying to figure the amount of time it will take

b : the quantity at hand or under consideration has an enormous amount of energy

2 : the whole effect, significance, or import

3 accounting : a principal sum and the interest on it

Synonyms Amount vs. Number: Usage Guide More Example Sentences Learn More About amount

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Amount vs. Number: Usage Guide

Noun

Number is regularly used with count nouns a large number of mistakes any number of times while amount is mainly used with mass nouns. annual amount of rainfall a substantial amount of money The use of amount with count nouns has been frequently criticized; it usually occurs when the number of things is thought of as a mass or collection glad to furnish any amount of black pebbles — New Yorker a substantial amount of film offers — Lily Tomlin or when money is involved. a substantial amount of loans — E. R. Black

Examples of amount in a Sentence

Noun The drug is not being produced in adequate amounts. What is the amount to be paid? An amount was finally agreed upon. The new law limits the amount a candidate can spend. When he died we found he owed money to the amount of $250,000!

Recent Examples on the Web: Verb That could amount to losing about 10% of total revenue at each bank. — David Benoit, WSJ, 12 July 2021 That would amount to over $277,000 in taxes to be paid upon the death of your parents, compared to nothing today. — Eric Martel, Forbes, 7 June 2021 If so, that would amount to the strongest such showing since 1946, when the nation was emerging from World War II rationing and other restrictions. — Arkansas Online, 29 May 2021 If so, that would amount to the strongest such showing since 1946, when the nation was emerging from World War II rationing and other restrictions. — Martin Crutsinger, Star Tribune, 28 May 2021 That would amount to nearly half of what the company projects as a record-high annual revenue approaching $2 billion. — New York Times, 29 Apr. 2021 As an unhealthy number of reactionary conservatives noted, that would amount to roughly four pounds of meat per person each year. — Nick Martin, The New Republic, 26 Apr. 2021 That would amount to an increase of 0.7% next year and 1.9% the year after that. — Patrick Marley, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, 19 Apr. 2021 That’ll amount to about 3.4 million people, or more than 80% of the population. — oregonlive, 4 Apr. 2021 Recent Examples on the Web: Noun The lawsuit seeks monetary damages in an amount to be determined by a jury, Bertrand said. — Daniel Gonzalez, The Arizona Republic, 10 July 2021 Public dollars invested in sustainable sectors like clean energy create significantly more jobs — in some cases as many as double the jobs — in our local economies when compared to investing an equivalent amount in the defense sector. — BostonGlobe.com, 9 July 2021 The management at Lucca’s Ristorante, 108 W. Burlington Ave., reported at 7:16 p.m. on July 6 that an unknown female took an unknown amount of money from the tip jar. — Hank Beckman, chicagotribune.com, 9 July 2021 Under the COVID-19 Vaccination Incentive Fund, for every 5,000 additional people who get a first dose of a vaccine, an increasing amount of money will be granted to Rhode Island nonprofits. — From Usa Today Network And Wire Reports, USA TODAY, 8 July 2021 This year’s edition of returning stats leaders will be different than in year’s past, with athletes on this list playing an uneven amount of games (context, remember?). — Dallas News, 8 July 2021 Any one Mehretu painting does an enormous amount of work; but when juxtaposed with one another, even in the capacious galleries of the Whitney, their monumentality doesn’t suggest a journey or a narrative. — Washington Post, 7 July 2021 Security operations center analysts spend an inordinate amount of time addressing hundreds, thousands or even millions of alerts in large-scale global enterprises. — Expert Panel®, Forbes, 7 July 2021 Prices for the Emira will start at £60,000 in Britain, including taxes, an amount equivalent to about $82,000. — Peter Valdes-dapena, CNN, 7 July 2021

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

History and Etymology for amount

Verb

Middle English amounten "to mount (a horse), increase, (of a sum, period of time) add up (to), come (to), be worth, be equal (to)," borrowed from Anglo-French amunter, amounter (continental Old French amonter) "to rise, increase, be worth, add up (to)," derivative of amunt, amount (continental Old French amont) "above, upward," univerbation of the adverbial phrase a mont "upward," literally "to the mountain," from a "to" (going back to Latin ad) + mont "mountain," going back to Latin mont-, mons — more at ad-, mount entry 1

Note: Alternatively Old French and Anglo-French amunter, amonter could be taken as a derivative of munter, monter "to mount" (see mount entry 2) with the prefix a-, usually forming transitive verbs. Französisches etymologisches Wörterbuch lists the verb under both the etymon mons and *montare.

Noun

Middle English amunte, borrowed from Anglo-French, noun derivative of amunter "to rise, increase, be worth, add up (to)" — more at amount entry 1

Note: The noun is sparsely attested in Middle English and Anglo-French, and the post-medieval English noun should probably be taken as directly derived from the verb amount entry 1.

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