amount

verb \ ə-ˈmau̇nt \

|Updated on: 11 Aug 2018

Usage guide: amount vs. number

Examples: amount in a Sentence

Definition of amount

amounted; amounting; amounts

intransitive verb

1 a : 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.

See amount defined for English-language learners

See amount defined for kids

Recent Examples of amount from the Web

The increase under Trump amounts to 2.8 percent, even faster than the 2.2 percent increase in overall employment.

— brooks jackson, Philly.com, "Trump's Numbers (Second Quarterly Update) | FactCheck," 11 July 2018
Looking at the drips of purple paint extending across the screen amounts to the only program available for viewing.

— mike giuliano, Howard County Times, "Artist gets metaphysical at Columbia Art Center," 6 July 2018
That data amounts to a digital footprint of sorts, allowing police to reconstruct a person’s movements with a level of precision that would have been impossible without the digital revolution.

— matt ford, The New Republic, "The Supreme Court’s Wayfair ruling is big for state budgets, bad for e-commerce companies.," 21 June 2018
The company’s roster of scientific advisers amounts to a who’s who of prominent stem cell experts, leading figures from Harvard and Stanford who are at the forefront of a field trying to turn basic discoveries into medical treatments of the future.

— andrew joseph, STAT, "Stem cell bank opens with backing from leading scientists. Is it worth the money?," 31 May 2018
Elisabeth Moss once joked that the dynamics of the June/Luke/Nick/Fred/Serena drama basically amounted to The Real Housewives of Gilead, and that equation is only getting more complicated.

— emma dibdin, Harper's BAZAAR, "The Handmaid's Tale Season 2 Episode 6 Finally Sheds Light on Serena's Murky Past," 23 May 2018
This essentially amounts to 2 million treatments given globally last year alone.

— jolene edgar, Allure, "The HydraFacial Phenomenon: Why Everyone Is Obsessed With This In-Office Treatment," 21 May 2018
That amounts to roughly $30-$60 in savings for each teacher, according to the American Federation of Teachers, a relatively small sum that is still regarded as a token of appreciation by educators.

— maria danilova, The Christian Science Monitor, "Teachers dig deep into their own pockets to pay for supplies, study finds," 16 May 2018
The mayors of Carmel, Fishers, Noblesville and Zionsville also had endorsed Meyer, in what amounted to a stunning rebuke of an entrenched Republican.

— chris sikich, Indianapolis Star, "Delph holds off Republican challenge, 2 others not so lucky," 8 May 2018

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.

Origin and Etymology of amount

Middle English, from Anglo-French amounter, from amount upward, from a- (from Latin ad-) + mont mountain — more at mount

NEW! Time Traveler

First Known Use: 14th century

in the meaning defined at sense 1a

See Words from the same year

amount

noun

Definition of amount

1 a : 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

See amount defined for English-language learners

amount vs. number

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