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 Emissions from household consumption in just 94 of the world’s biggest cities amount to 10% of the world’s total carbon footprint, according to a study last year from the University of Leeds and the environmental group C40. — Tim Mcdonnell, Quartz, "How to shop without destroying the climate," 17 Dec. 2020 The reductions amount to roughly 12% of the company’s U.S. workforce. — Jennifer Maloney, WSJ, "Coca-Cola to Cut 2,200 Jobs," 17 Dec. 2020 The 20 rowing scholarships amount to about $650,000, which would reduce the women to roughly 46 percent based on 2018-19 figures despite accounting for 55 percent of undergraduate enrollment. — Mark Zeigler, San Diego Union-Tribune, "San Diego State to cut women’s rowing after 2020-21 season," 20 Nov. 2020 Pay bumps tied to the pandemic have been relatively modest, but raising wages a few dollars an hour can amount to a large increase in a retail worker’s take-home pay. — Michael Corkery, New York Times, "Virus Cases Rise, but Hazard Pay for Retail Workers Doesn’t," 19 Nov. 2020 The company’s three cruise lines amount to 28 ships including Regent Seven Seas Splendor which debuted this year and Norwegian Encore which debuted in 2019. — Richard Tribou, orlandosentinel.com, "Norwegian Cruise Line, sister lines cancel all sailings through 2020; other lines still list December voyages," 2 Nov. 2020 Those remarks amount to a fuller response to Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., who pushed Barrett to answer how her faith impacts her views on Roe during her 2017 appeals court confirmation hearing. — Nick Penzenstadler, USA TODAY, "We binge-watched 15 hours of Amy Barrett's speeches. Here’s what we learned about her judicial philosophy.," 5 Oct. 2020 All of these problems amount to a coordination nightmare orders of magnitude larger than the one posed by Covid-19. — Kate Aronoff, The New Republic, "The Bungled Vaccine Rollout Is a Bad Omen," 4 Jan. 2021 Kinda classic Kirk Cousins, who's thrown a career-best 32 TDs ... which will basically amount to nothing. — Nate Davis, USA TODAY, "NFL power rankings after Week 16: Baltimore Ravens return to top five," 30 Dec. 2020 Recent Examples on the Web: Noun It’s about the celebration of the baby and the love that is present, not the amount of money spent on the celebration. — cleveland, "Dear Annie: I have reservations about my fiancée and how she feels about me," 6 Jan. 2021 The amount of payment individuals receive will be reduced by $5 for every $100 of income earned above those thresholds, according to the House Appropriations committee. — Aimee Picchi, CBS News, "Second stimulus check: Who won't be getting a $600 check?," 6 Jan. 2021 But by reducing the amount withheld to 10% for the first three weeks and supplying a steady dose of six million doses each week, the US could avoid up to 29% more cases over eight weeks, the study found. — Christina Maxouris, CNN, "Hospitals are already overwhelmed. Now some states are beginning to feel the impact of holiday gatherings," 5 Jan. 2021 Yes, the Cowboys were hurt by making a coaching change and installing a new system at a time when COVID-19 protocols reduced the amount of time the staff could spend with players. — Mike Finger, ExpressNews.com, "Mike Finger: Dallas Cowboys set a ‘record,’ even while they’re stuck in place," 5 Jan. 2021 So, in 2020, Thelma started cooking to control the amount of sodium and fat in her food. — Melissa Matthews, SELF, "Grocery Diaries: A Novice Home Chef Who Makes Meals With High Blood Pressure in Mind," 5 Jan. 2021 Along with mask-wearing, social distancing and hand hygiene, ensuring clean indoor air is an important piece of the pandemic-fighting toolbox — but the one that’s been paid the least amount of attention, experts say. — Annie Vainshtein, SFChronicle.com, "Why CO2 monitors may be part of the solution to reopening indoor spaces safely," 5 Jan. 2021 This Counter Assault bear spray comes in a leak-proof canister and remains effective for four years, extending the amount of time between replacements. — Outdoor Life, "Best Bear Spray: Five Things to Consider," 5 Jan. 2021 Hazel misses her son, and no amount of French toast or chicken and waffles is going to fix that. — Ashley Ray-harris, Vulture, "90 Day Fiancé Recap: Everything Is Embarrassing," 4 Jan. 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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