total

1 of 4

adjective

to·​tal ˈtō-tᵊl How to pronounce total (audio)
1
: comprising or constituting a whole : entire
the total amount
2
: absolute, utter
a total failure
a total stranger
3
: involving a complete and unified effort especially to achieve a desired effect
total war
total theater

total

2 of 4

noun

1
: a product of addition : sum
2
: an entire quantity : amount

total

3 of 4

verb

totaled or totalled; totaling or totalling

transitive verb

1
: to add up : compute
2
: to amount to : number
3
: to make a total wreck of : demolish
specifically : to damage so badly that the cost of repairs exceeds the market value of the vehicle
totaled the car

total

4 of 4

adverb

Choose the Right Synonym for total

whole, entire, total, all mean including everything or everyone without exception.

whole implies that nothing has been omitted, ignored, abated, or taken away.

read the whole book

entire may suggest a state of completeness or perfection to which nothing can be added.

the entire population was wiped out

total implies that everything has been counted, weighed, measured, or considered.

the total number of people present

all may equal whole, entire, or total.

all proceeds go to charity

Examples of total in a Sentence

Adjective a total lack of support a total eclipse of the sun He demanded total control of the project. What was the total amount of the bill? the total number of words The country has a total population of about 100 million. Noun a total of 25 square miles that's the total for our wheat harvest this year Verb He carefully totaled the bill. two and two total four
Recent Examples on the Web
Adjective
Bloomberg has reported that the figure could be closer to 20% in some divisions, potentially pushing the total number of layoffs beyond 20,000. Edward Ludlow, Fortune, 22 Apr. 2024 Earth has a similar area for services and what also resembles the world’s largest laundromat, with a total 78 vessels. David Browne, Rolling Stone, 22 Apr. 2024 Meanwhile, total domestic gasoline stocks decreased by 1.1 million barrels to 227.4 million barrels. Frank Witsil, Detroit Free Press, 22 Apr. 2024 Raleigh’s total grocery sales revenue was $5.6 billion, well below Charlotte’s totals. Catherine Muccigrosso, Charlotte Observer, 22 Apr. 2024 Comscore estimated the overall total box office haul for the three-day window would reach $65.4 million. Meg James, Los Angeles Times, 21 Apr. 2024 The Hogs left the bases loaded in the eighth and ninth innings without scoring and stranded 14 runners total. Tom Murphy, arkansasonline.com, 20 Apr. 2024 As a result, the total number of egg-laying hens has declined by about seven million from 2021 to 2023, producing a billion fewer eggs a year — and contributing to spikes in cost. Linda Qiu, New York Times, 20 Apr. 2024 Jury selection: Seven people have been sworn in as jurors — more than a third of the total number of people that will be needed to hold a trial with a full jury and six alternates. Isaac Arnsdorf, Washington Post, 19 Apr. 2024
Noun
Watanabe’s trial took place in December, The Japan Times reported, and she was charged with defrauding three men of about $1 million between 2021 and 2023 and for helping a 21-year-old woman defraud two other men of a total of roughly $64,594. Sunny Nagpaul, Fortune, 23 Apr. 2024 Asia was responsible for about 40 percent of those sales, Hypebeast noted, while the United States imported 25 percent of that total. Tori Latham, Robb Report, 23 Apr. 2024 In total in 2023, DHS allocated more than $2 billion in preparedness grants, with at least $30.9 million supposed to go toward supporting election security. Miles Parks, NPR, 23 Apr. 2024 The company now represents 83 athletes in total across football and baseball. Thania Garcia, Variety, 23 Apr. 2024 The quantitative impact of the fans’ choices is minimal — accounting for about 0.3 percent of the total — but creates a fair amount of buzz. George Varga, San Diego Union-Tribune, 22 Apr. 2024 The Celtics swept the three-game regular-season series against the Heat, outscoring Miami by a total of 45 points during those matchups. Anthony Chiang, Miami Herald, 20 Apr. 2024 The group is still collecting signatures and will need to submit a total of 62,896 signatures by May 1 to appear on the November ballot. Melissa Cruz, USA TODAY, 20 Apr. 2024 In total, Fink writes, his firm has nearly $140 billion in assets under management aligned with energy transition strategies compared to $300 billion invested in traditional energy firms. Justin Worland, TIME, 20 Apr. 2024
Verb
Box office revenue in the U.S. and Canada is expected to total about $8.5 billion, which is down from $9 billion in 2023 and a far cry from the pre-pandemic yearly tallies that nearly reached $12 billion. Christi Carras, Los Angeles Times, 12 Apr. 2024 Its tentacles reach some of the world’s largest companies, from Apple to LVMH and Nestlé, totaling nearly 9,000 companies worldwide. Prarthana Prakash, Fortune Europe, 11 Apr. 2024 The bill provides a scholarship for the surviving children of the victims, which would total at least $3,000 and as much as full in-state tuition for each eligible student. Teo Armus, Washington Post, 10 Apr. 2024 Herro totaled 14 fourth-quarter points to lead a Heat rally that fell just short against the Pacers. Anthony Chiang, Miami Herald, 8 Apr. 2024 In 2019, the CBO projected that net immigration in 2023 would total 1.0 million people. Wendy Edelberg and Tara Watson, TIME, 5 Apr. 2024 April 4, 2024 Last year, the number of park visitors totaled 3.4 million following a gradual rebound from the pandemic, although still falling short of the nearly 3.5 million who came to the park the year before COVID-19 hit. Phillip Molnar, San Diego Union-Tribune, 4 Apr. 2024 Witt belted his first home run this season as the Royals totaled five homers in a 11-0 rout of the Minnesota Twins. Jaylon Thompson, Kansas City Star, 31 Mar. 2024 Additional fundraisers for the individual families, including the family of Suazo Sandoval, totaled more than $65,000. Emily Davies, Washington Post, 30 Mar. 2024
Adverb
Dunning upped his innings pitched total from 117 in 2021 to 153, which was the biggest marker of progress for him on the season. Dallas News, 26 Sep. 2022 Phiaton rates the buds as offering 11 hours if continuous use, and up to 28 hours total with the charging case. Andy Meek, BGR, 22 Dec. 2022 Battery life tops 8 hours between charges, or up to 28 hours total with the charging case. Marc Saltzman, USA TODAY, 17 Dec. 2022 Tom Brady, the greatest winner of this generation, has won total. Christopher L. Gasper, BostonGlobe.com, 1 Aug. 2022 What makes his opinions potentially tricky is the fact that Britain has a constitutional monarchy, which is very different from the type of absolute monarchies that wield total, undemocratic political power in Saudi Arabia and other Gulf states. Alexander Smith, NBC News, 8 Sep. 2022 The offensive player to watch is C Logan Gallina (.333, 21 HR, 62 RBIs), the only Aggies player with a double-digit home run total. San Diego Union-Tribune, 3 June 2022 Last year, there were five ozone action days total. Liliana Webb, Detroit Free Press, 11 July 2022 Golden Gate, with a difficulty rating of 5.13b, contains 41 pitches total, with the toughest ones awaiting in the final ten, which is partly what makes the route such a demanding one to free-climb within 24 hours. Andrew Bisharat, Outside Online, 6 Nov. 2020

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'total.' 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

Adjective

Middle English, from Anglo-French, from Medieval Latin totalis, from Latin totus whole, entire

First Known Use

Adjective

14th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Noun

1557, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Verb

1716, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Adverb

1601, in the meaning defined above

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

Dictionary Entries Near total

Cite this Entry

“Total.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/total. Accessed 27 Apr. 2024.

Kids Definition

total

1 of 3 adjective
to·​tal ˈtōt-ᵊl How to pronounce total (audio)
1
: of or relating to the whole of something
a total eclipse of the sun
2
: making up the whole
the total amount
3
: being such to the fullest degree
total ruin
4
: making use of every means to do something
total war

total

2 of 3 noun
1
: a product of addition : sum
2
: an entire amount

total

3 of 3 verb
totaled or totalled; totaling or totalling
1
2
: to amount to
donations totaled $120
3
: to make a total wreck of
totaled the car

More from Merriam-Webster on total

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