quantity
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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
- A specified or indefinite amount or number.
- A large amount or number.
- The property of a thing that can be measured or counted.
- (mathematics) Something that has a magnitude or is the object of an operation.
- The relative length of a vowel or syllable.
Word family
- disquantity
- known quantity
Related words
References
- ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
- ^ a b c d e f g h i Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
- ^ a b c d Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
- ^ a b Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
- ^ Pearsall, Judy, ed. (1998), The New Oxford Dictionary of English, Oxford: Clarendon Press
- ^ a b c d e Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press