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

Verb the expenses of the trip amounted to nearly double what we'd budgeted for it makes no difference whether you're going to the game or the movies, for it amounts to the same thing—that you can't babysit 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 precipitation amounts of less than a tenth of an inch, except higher amounts possible in thunderstorms. Haadiza Ogwude, The Enquirer, 25 Oct. 2024 Loan amounts Up to $250,000 Minimum requirements Be in business for at least six months; have $100,000 gross annual revenue [ Return to summary ] Crest Capital Crest Capital has been around since 1989 and serves small- and medium-sized businesses. Jasmin Suknanan, CNBC, 17 Oct. 2024
Noun
Barra has held on to the corner office for more than double the average amount of time for a female Fortune 500 CEO of 4½ years. Sasha Rogelberg, Fortune, 28 Oct. 2024 This means that the amount of AI content in the top results has more than doubled since late 2022 when ChatGPT was released, at which point only 5.61% of the content was AI-generated. Jonathan Gillham, Forbes, 28 Oct. 2024 See all Example Sentences for amount 

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 4 Nov. 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
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