amount

1 of 2

verb

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.

amount

2 of 2

noun

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
Amount vs. Number: Usage Guide

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
New rainfall amounts between a quarter and half of an inch are possible. Friday: Showers likely and possibly a thunderstorm before noon, then a chance of showers and thunderstorms after noon. Haadiza Ogwude, The Enquirer, 14 Mar. 2024 New rainfall amounts between a quarter and half of an inch possible. John Tufts, The Indianapolis Star, 13 Mar. 2024 To the contrary, there will be startup costs — amounts Leifman, Levine Cava and others said were still in discussion and can’t be revealed. Brittany Wallman, Miami Herald, 11 Feb. 2024 In January 2018, Elon Musk agreed a new compensation package with Tesla’s board that, if Tesla did astonishingly well, could have amounted, over time, to $55.8 billion. Andrew Stuttaford, National Review, 5 Feb. 2024 PepsiCo’s business in Europe accounts for about 14 percent of its global revenue, amounting at about $9 billion, the Wall Street Journal reported. Jaclyn Peiser, Washington Post, 5 Jan. 2024 New precipitation amounts between a tenth and a quarter of an inch is possible. Haadiza Ogwude, The Enquirer, 8 Mar. 2024 Create a calendar of scholarship deadlines and requirements, and prioritize your applications based on eligibility and potential award amounts. Christopher Rim, Forbes, 26 Feb. 2024 The ratcheting pressure is reflected in the individual amounts each school has settled for. Eva Rothenberg, CNN, 24 Feb. 2024
Noun
Euroclear is accumulating vast amounts of cash because of payments associated with frozen Russian assets. Hanna Ziady, CNN, 21 Mar. 2024 HuffPost Amazon put a massive amount of employees on performance improvement plans, while the company continued to lay off a record number of workers. Emma Burleigh, Fortune, 21 Mar. 2024 But depending on how that transition happens, the change could lead to an overall increase in the amount of pesticide used by growers throughout the state. Karen Kaplan, Los Angeles Times, 21 Mar. 2024 In truth, the voucher is a clandestine smart contract which permits a third party to transfer out an unlimited amount of funds from the wallet. TIME, 21 Mar. 2024 According to its bid, the business would pay half its rent upon construction and the full amount when operations began. Tammy Murga, San Diego Union-Tribune, 20 Mar. 2024 While the polar region received varying amounts of sunlight throughout the year in the Cretaceous, similar to today, the findings show the weather was more consistently warmer and wet. Christian Thorsberg, Smithsonian Magazine, 20 Mar. 2024 The holder of a single-winning ticket for Friday's jackpot would have the choice of getting a one-time lump-sum payment of about $461 million in cash before taxes or going with an annuity for the full amount consisting of annual payments over 30 years. Brian Dakss, CBS News, 20 Mar. 2024 The rule increasingly limits the amount of pollution allowed from tailpipes over time so that, by 2032, more than half the new cars sold in the United States would most likely be zero-emissions vehicles in order for carmakers to meet the standards. Coral Davenport, New York Times, 20 Mar. 2024

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'amount.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

Etymology

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.

First Known Use

Verb

14th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1a

Noun

15th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1a

Time Traveler
The first known use of amount was in the 14th century

Dictionary Entries Near amount

Cite this Entry

“Amount.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/amount. Accessed 28 Mar. 2024.

Kids Definition

amount

1 of 2 verb
1
: to add up
the bill amounted to ten dollars
2
: to be the same in meaning or effect
acts that amount to treason

amount

2 of 2 noun
1
: the total number or quantity : aggregate
the amount to be paid
2
: a given or particular quantity or number
add the same amount to both columns

More from Merriam-Webster on amount

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!