quantity
/ˈkwɒntɪti
/noun (plural quantities) [mass noun]
1The amount or number of a material or abstract thing not usually estimated by spatial measurement: the quantity and quality of the fruit can be controlled...
- The total quantity of materials required to complete the development will be about 1.25 million cubic metres.
- A consensus was reached during the workshop that both the quality and quantity of raw materials were a source of great concern in the leather industry of the Eastern and Southern African region.
- We estimated the total quantity of protein in the gland by using the BioRad color photometric method.
Synonyms
amount, number, total, aggregate, sum, quota, group, size, mass, weight, volume, bulk, load, consignment, expanse, extent, length, area;
quantum, proportion, portion, part;
dose, dosage
1.1 [count noun] A certain, usually specified, amount or number of something: a small quantity of food if taken in large quantities, the drug can result in liver failure...
- ‘This operation is not about finding a large quantity of drugs but to reassure the public and take out middle level dealers,’ he said.
- So far, officers have executed 18 search warrants throughout the north and south of the county, seizing a substantial quantity of controlled drugs.
- Drugs, large quantities of cash, weighing scales, clingfilm, mobile phones and several vehicles were seized.
1.2 (often quantities) A considerable number or amount of something: she was able to drink quantities of beer without degenerating into giggles [mass noun]: many people like to buy in quantity...
- Locally, some traders have bought quantities of genuine Livestrong bands and are selling them on at a profit.
- The fatal fraud was the result of his action in buying quantities of shares in a distilling firm in an effort to shore up the share price.
- Mass quantities of Harlequin Valentine ship today from Dark Horse, just in time for Valentine's Day.
Synonyms
an amount, a number, a good number/few, a lot, a large amount, (a) good/great deal;
quite a number, scores, many, considerable amounts, plenty;
several, numerous, countless, innumerable, ample, copious, abundant, plentiful, considerable, substantial
informal a pile, piles, oodles, tons, lots, loads, heaps, masses, stacks, scads, bags, more … than one can shake a stick at
British informal lashings, a shedload, shedloads
North American informal gobs
vulgar slang a shitload
2 Phonetics The perceived length of a vowel sound or syllable.In speech, this feature is reflected in phonological quantity....
- In phonetics, the sense of movement in speech consists of the stress, quantity, and timing of syllables.
- This study investigates the realisation of phonological quantity in the dialects of Modern Swedish, based on a corpus containing recordings from 86 locations in Sweden and the Swedish-speaking parts of Finland.
3 Mathematics & Physics A value or component that may be expressed in numbers.Another important quantity is the clustering coefficient C of a vertex....
- Those ratios are the same for both quantity and value.
- De triangulis is in five books, the first of which gives the basic definitions: quantity, ratio, equality, circles, arcs, chords, and the sine function.
3.1 [count noun] The figure or symbol representing a quantity.The heat absorbed or released in a reaction depends on a quantity called enthalpy, represented by the capital letter H....
- The quantity w represents the average fitness of the population at equilibrium.
- An ellipse is a flattened circle, and the degree of flatness is indicated by a numerical quantity called eccentricity, abbreviated e.
Origin
Middle English: from Old French quantite, from Latin quantitas (translating Greek posotēs), from quantus 'how great, how much'.