Word forms: plural, 3rd person singular presenttense sums, present participle summing, past tense, past participle summed
1. countable noun
A sumof money is an amount of money.
Large sums of money were lost. [+ of]
Even the relatively modest sum of £50,000 now seems beyond his reach. [+ of]
Synonyms: amount, quantity, volume More Synonyms of sum
2. countable noun
A sum is a simple calculation in arithmetic.
I can't do my sums.
Synonyms: calculation, figures, arithmetic, problem More Synonyms of sum
3. singular noun
In mathematics, the sum of two numbers is the number that is obtained when they are added together.
The sum of all the angles of a triangle is 180 degrees. [+ of]
Synonyms: total, aggregate, tally, entirety More Synonyms of sum
4. singular noun
The sum of something is all of it.
'Public opinion' is only the sum of the views of thousands of people like yourself. [+ of]
The sum of evidence points to the crime resting on them.
Has it, in its 30 years, added much to the sum of human happiness?
Synonyms: totality, whole, aggregate, entirety More Synonyms of sum
5. See also lump sum
6.
See in sum
7.
See more/greater than the sum of its parts
Phrasal verbs:
See sum up
sum in British English1
(sʌm)
noun
1.
a.
the result of the addition of numbers, quantities, objects, etc
b.
the cardinality of the union of disjoint sets whose cardinalities are the given numbers
2.
one or more columns or rows of numbers to be added, subtracted, multiplied, or divided
3. mathematics
the limit of a series of sums of the first n terms of a converging infinite series as n tends to infinity
4. (plural) another name for number work
5.
a quantity, esp of money
he borrows enormous sums
6.
the essence or gist of a matter (esp in the phrases in sum, in sum and substance)
7. a less common word for summary
8. archaic
the summit or maximum
9. (modifier)
complete or final (esp in the phrase sum total)
verbWord forms: sums, summing or summed
10. (often foll by up)
to add or form a total of (something)
11. (transitive)
to calculate the sum of (the terms in a sequence)
Word origin
C13 summe, from Old French, from Latin summa the top, sum, from summus highest, from superus in a higher position; see super
sum in British English2
(sʊm)
nounWord forms: pluralsumy (ˈsʊmɪ)
the standard monetary unit of Uzbekistan, divided into 100 tiyin
sum in American English
(sʌm; for 6 sum)
noun
1.
an amount of money
a sum paid in reparation
2.
the whole amount; totality; aggregate
the sum of our experience
3.
the gist or a summary of something said, done, etc.
usually in sum and substance
4.
a.
the result obtained by adding numbers or quantities; total
b. OLD-FASHIONED
a series of numbers to be added together, or any problem in arithmetic
c.
the limit of the sum of the first n terms of an infinite series as n grows indefinitely
d.
the set containing every element belonging to one or both of two original sets and no other elements
e.
in Boolean algebra, disjunction (sense 2)
5. Archaic
the highest degree; height; summit
6. Word forms: pluralsum
the basic monetary unit of Uzbekistan
verb transitiveWord forms: summed or ˈsumming
7.
to determine the sum of by adding
8.
to summarize or review briefly; sum up
verb intransitive
9.
to get, or come to, a total
Idioms:
in sum
sum up
SYNONYMY NOTE: sum refers to the number or amount obtained by adding individual units [the sum of 3 and 5 is 8]; amount applies to the result obtained by combining all the sums, quantities, measures, etc.that are involved [we paid the full amount of the damages]; aggregate refers to the whole group or mass of individual items gathered together [the aggregate of our experiences]; total stresses the wholeness or inclusiveness of a sum or amount [the collection reached a total of $200]
Word origin
ME somme < MFr < L summa, fem. of summus, highest, superl. < base of super: see super-; (sense 6) Uzbek sŭm
sum- in American English
(sʌm)
sub-
used before m
Examples of 'sum' in a sentence
sum
Here is a real physical presence summed up in one image following many hours of observation.
Times, Sunday Times (2007)
Organised crime and corruption involve huge sums that require large pools to wash the money.
Times, Sunday Times (2016)
We can now sum up the whole argument.
Kishlansky, Mark A. (editor) Sources of the West: Readings in Western Civilization, Volume 1: From the Beginningto 1715 (1995)
The couple offered no defence and have settled for an undisclosed sum.
Times, Sunday Times (2013)
In fact the largest of these numbers is the sum of the other three.
Times, Sunday Times (2014)
We were offering around that sum two years earlier.
Thompson, Sir Peter Sharing the Success - the story of NFC (1990)
The unscrupulous tailor had consented to sell his own dying son for a large sum.
Deborah Cadbury THE LOST KING OF FRANCE: Revolution, Revenge and the Search for Louis XVII (2002)
This is a very modest sum to spend.
Brumberg, Elaine Take Care of Your Skin (1990)
The drawdown provider will also be responsible for checking that the sums add up.
Times, Sunday Times (2011)
It increases the sum of human happiness.
The Sun (2014)
The friends with benefits situation sums up the attitude of my entire generation.
Times, Sunday Times (2013)
The sum total of our collective sin speaks volumes to the world.
Christianity Today (2000)
We have admitted the wrong and agreed to pay her the maximum sum.
Times, Sunday Times (2011)
Could we pay off the loan in one lump sum when she finishes her degree?
Times, Sunday Times (2006)
We are now wasting huge sums of money just paying the interest.
The Sun (2009)
That pretty much sums up his architecture.
Times, Sunday Times (2007)
It would be nice if statisticians could just do the sums and tell people what is safer than what.
Times, Sunday Times (2009)
It follows mounting public anger over the huge sums being made by some speed cameras with little apparent impact on road safety.
Times, Sunday Times (2011)
The sum amounted to just under half of that year's budget.
Times, Sunday Times (2007)
But his importance to American cinema far outweighs the artistic sum of his individual films.
Times, Sunday Times (2006)
Birds that were the result of thousands of hours of work, and considerable sums of money.
Times, Sunday Times (2011)
He's spent months begging and received huge sums from local people.
The Sun (2014)
In the 20th century these companies grew by raising huge sums in small amounts from widely dispersed shareholders.
Times, Sunday Times (2007)
In other languages
sum
British English: sum /sʌm/ NOUN
amount A sum of money is an amount of money.
Large sums of money were lost.
American English: sum
Arabic: مَبْلَغ
Brazilian Portuguese: soma
Chinese: 总和
Croatian: zbroj
Czech: obnos
Danish: sum
Dutch: som
European Spanish: suma
Finnish: summa
French: somme calcul
German: Summe
Greek: ποσό
Italian: somma
Japanese: 合計
Korean: 합계
Norwegian: sum
Polish: suma
European Portuguese: soma
Romanian: sumă
Russian: сумма
Latin American Spanish: suma
Swedish: summa
Thai: ผลรวม
Turkish: toplam
Ukrainian: сума
Vietnamese: tổng số
British English: sum /sʌm/ NOUN
in maths In maths, a sum is a problem you work out using numbers.
I have to finish these sums.
American English: sum
Arabic: مَسْأَلَةٌ حِسَابِيَّة
Brazilian Portuguese: soma
Chinese: 和
Croatian: zbroj
Czech: výpočetv matematice
Danish: sum
Dutch: som
European Spanish: cuenta
Finnish: laskutehtävä
French: problèmemathématiques
German: Summe
Greek: άθροισμα
Italian: somma
Japanese: 計算
Korean: 합계
Norwegian: regnestykke
Polish: obliczenie
European Portuguese: soma
Romanian: sumă
Russian: сумма
Latin American Spanish: suma
Swedish: summa
Thai: การคำนวณ
Turkish: toplamak
Ukrainian: сума
Vietnamese: tổng
All related terms of 'sum'
in sum
You use in sum to introduce a statement that briefly describes a situation.
sum up
If you sum something up , you describe it as briefly as possible .
up-sum
a summing-up
dim sum
a Chinese appetizer of steamed dumplings containing various fillings
lump sum
A lump sum is an amount of money that is paid as a large amount on a single occasion rather than as smaller amounts on several separate occasions.
sum total
The sum total of a number of things is all the things added or considered together . You often use this expression to indicate that you are disappointed because the total amount is rather small.
zero-sum
relating to a situation in which one person's loss is equal to the other person's gain
capital sum
an amount of money paid to an insured person or paid as an initial fee or investment
logical sum
the act of disconnecting or the state of being disconnected; separation
partial sum
one of a series of sums of elements of a given sequence , the first sum being the first element, the second sum being the first element added to the second element, the third sum being equal to the sum of the first three elements, and so on
sum assured
The sum assured is the amount payable on the occurrence of an event insured against under a benefit policy, such as the death of the insured.
sum insured
The sum insured is the insurer's limit of liability under an insurance contract .
vector sum
a vector whose length and direction are represented by the diagonal of a parallelogram whose sides represent the given vectors
the sum total
the result you get when you add numbers or amounts together
zero-sum game
If you refer to a situation as a zero-sum game , you mean that if one person gains an advantage from it, someone else involved must suffer an equivalent disadvantage .
a zero-sum game
a situation in which if one person gains an advantage , someone else involved must suffer an equivalent disadvantage
cogito, ergo sum
I think , therefore I am; the basis of Descartes ' philosophy
lump sum payment
A lump sum payment is an amount of money that is paid in one single payment rather than in installments.
the sum total of sth
all of something
more/greater than the sum of its parts
If you say that something is more than the sum of its parts or greater than the sum of its parts , you mean that it is better than you would expect from the individual parts, because the way they combine adds a different quality.
Chinese translation of 'sum'
sum
(sʌm)
n(c)
(= amount) 数(數)额(額) (shù'é) (笔, bǐ)
(= calculation) 算术(術)题(題) (suànshùtí) (道, dào)
(Math, = total) 总(總)数(數) (zǒngshù)
to do a sum算算术(術) (suàn suànshù)
in sum (frm) 简(簡)而言之 (jiǎn ér yán zhī)
1 (noun)
Definition
a quantity of money
Large sums of money were lost.
Synonyms
amount
I still do a certain amount of work for them.
quantity
a vast quantity of food
volume
the sheer volume of traffic on our motorways
2 (noun)
Definition
one or more columns or rows of numbers to be added, subtracted, multiplied, or divided
I can't do my sums.
Synonyms
calculation
figures
arithmetic
problem
numbers
reckonings
mathematics
maths (British, informal)
tally
math (US, informal)
arithmetical problem
3 (noun)
Definition
the result of the addition of numbers or quantities
The sum of all the angles of a triangle is 180 degrees.
Synonyms
total
The companies have a total of 1,776 employees.
aggregate
society viewed as an aggregate of individuals
tally
They do not keep a tally of visitors to the palace.
entirety
sum total
4 (noun)
A group is more than the sum of the individuals in it.
Synonyms
totality
We must take into consideration the totality of the evidence.
whole
The different components combine to form a complete whole.
aggregate
entirety
His own diary forms the entirety of the novel.
beginning and end
summation
phrase
See in sum
Phrasal verbs
See sum something or someone up
See sum something up
See sum up
Additional synonyms
in the sense of aggregate
Definition
an amount or total formed from separate units
society viewed as an aggregate of individuals
Synonyms
total,
body,
whole,
amount,
collection,
cluster,
mass,
sum,
combination,
pile,
mixture,
bulk,
lump,
heap,
accumulation,
assemblage,
agglomeration
in the sense of entirety
Definition
all of a person or thing
His own diary forms the entirety of the novel.
Synonyms
whole,
total,
sum,
unity,
aggregate,
totality
in the sense of quantity
Definition
a specified or definite amount or number
a vast quantity of food
Synonyms
amount,
lot,
total,
sum,
part,
portion,
quota,
aggregate,
number,
allotment
Synonyms of 'sum'
sum
Explore 'sum' in the dictionary
Additional synonyms
in the sense of tally
Definition
any record of debit, credit, the score in a game, etc.
They do not keep a tally of visitors to the palace.
Synonyms
record,
score,
total,
count,
reckoning,
running total
in the sense of volume
Definition
an amount or total
the sheer volume of traffic on our motorways
Synonyms
amount,
quantity,
level,
body,
total,
measure,
degree,
mass,
proportion,
bulk,
aggregate
in the sense of whole
Definition
a collection of parts viewed together as a unit
The different components combine to form a complete whole.