quantity

Pronunciation

• IPA: /ˈkwɑn(t)ɪti/; /ˈkwɒn.tɪ.ti/ (UK)^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English quantite, borrowed from Old French quantité and directly from Latin quantitās, relative greatness or extent,^[2][3][4] coined as a loan translation of Greek ποσότης (posótēs) (from πόσος (pósos), how much?),^[3][2][5] from Latin quantus, how great, how much, related to quam, how, and quis, who.^[2][3][4]

Earliest recorded meaning

Amount or extent: before 1325, in Cursor Mundi.^[2][3]

Semantic evolution

Size, magnitude or dimension is from about 1380,^[2] and linear extent, length or height from 1387, now obsolete except in mathematics.^[6] An amount of something not usually measured spatially is from about 1400.^[6] Bill of quantities in surveying is from 1877.^[6] Quantitative is from 1581.^[2]

Timeline

• before 1325 – amount.^[2]
• c. 1380 – size, magnitude.^[2]
• 1387 – length or height.^[6]
• 1581 – quantitative.^[2]
• 1877 – bill of quantities.^[6]

Modern meaning

Noun

1. A specified or indefinite amount or number.
2. A large amount or number.
3. The property of a thing that can be measured or counted.
4. (mathematics) Something that has a magnitude or is the object of an operation.
5. The relative length of a vowel or syllable.

Word family

• disquantity
• known quantity

Related words

• quant
• quanta
• quantifier
• quantify
• quantitate
• quantitative
• quantum
• quality

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
3. ^ a b c d Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
4. ^ a b Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
5. ^ Pearsall, Judy, ed. (1998), The New Oxford Dictionary of English, Oxford: Clarendon Press
6. ^ a b c d e Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press