quantity English · revision 10227

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=before 1325|origins=fro quantité|origins=la quantitas}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /ˈkwɑn(t)ɪti/; /ˈkwɒn.tɪ.ti/ ''(UK)''^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is Middle English quantite, [[bor|fro|quantité]] and directly from Latin quantitās, relative greatness or extent,^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)^(Hoad 1986) coined as a loan translation of Greek [[m|grc|ποσότης|tr=posótēs]] (from pósos, how much?),^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988)^(NODE 1998) from Latin quantus, how great, how much, related to quam, how, and quis, who.^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)^(Hoad 1986)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Amount or extent: before 1325, in ''Cursor Mundi''.^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Size, magnitude or dimension is from about 1380,^(Barnhart 1988) and linear extent, length or height from 1387, now obsolete except in mathematics.^(OED 1989) An amount of something not usually measured spatially is from about 1400.^(OED 1989) ''Bill of quantities'' in surveying is from 1877.^(OED 1989) ''Quantitative'' is from 1581.^(Barnhart 1988)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * before 1325 – amount.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * c. 1380 – size, magnitude.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * 1387 – length or height.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1581 – quantitative.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * 1877 – bill of quantities.^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A specified or indefinite [[amount]] or number.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # A large amount or number.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # The property of a thing that can be measured or counted.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # ''(mathematics)'' Something that has a [[magnitude]] or is the object of an operation.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # The relative length of a vowel or syllable.^(AHD)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[disquantity]]

+ * [[known quantity]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[quant]]

+ * [[quanta]]

+ * [[quantifier]]

+ * [[quantify]]

+ * [[quantitate]]

+ * [[quantitative]]

+ * [[quantum]]

+ * [[quality]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}