amount English · revision 3466

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=c. 1250|origins=la mōns}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /əˈmaʊnt/^(Roach et al. 2011)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ The verb is [[inh|enm|amounten]], [[bor|fro|amonter|t=to rise, go up; to mean]],^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988) from [[m|fro|amont|t=upward, uphill]], literally “to the mountain”,^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988)^(COED 2004) from Latin [[m|la|ad montem|t=to the hill]], from [[m|la|ad|t=to]] and [[m|la|mōns|t=mountain]],^(AHD 2000)^(Barnhart 1988) the source of [[mount]] and [[mountain]].^(Barnhart 1988)^(Klein 1966) Etymonline traces ''mōns'' to [[ine-pro|*men-|t=to project]].^(Etymonline)^(AHD 2000) The noun is from the verb.^(Etymonline)^(SOED 2002)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ To go up, rise: about 1250,^(OED 1989) or about 1275,^(Barnhart 1988) a sense now obsolete.^(SOED 2002)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ The meaning “to rise in number or quantity so as to reach, add up to” is from about 1300,^(Etymonline)^(OED 1989) and “to be equal to” from about 1350.^(Barnhart 1988) The noun, “the sum total”, is from 1710;^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988)^(OED 1989) Middle English had the nouns ''amountance'' and ''amountment''.^(Etymonline) The sum of principal and interest on a loan is from 1796,^(OED 1989) and a quantity viewed as a total from 1833.^(OED 1989) ''Any amount of'', “a great deal”, is colloquial from 1893.^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 1250 – verb, to go up.^(OED 1989)

+ * c. 1300 – verb, to add up to.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1710 – noun, the total.^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988)^(OED 1989)

+ * 1796 – principal plus interest.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1893 – ''any amount of''.^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A quantity: ''a large amount of sugar''.^(AHD)^(OED 1989)

+ # The total of two or more quantities; a sum.^(AHD)^(SOED 2002)

+ # A principal plus its interest.^(AHD)^(OED 1989)

+ # The full effect or meaning.^(AHD)^(OED 1989)

+

+ ===Verb===

+ # To add up in number or quantity.^(AHD)^(OED 1989)

+ # To be equivalent in effect: ''it amounts to treason''.^(AHD)^(Barnhart 1988)

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[mount]]

+ * [[mountain]]

+ * [[paramount]]

+ * [[tantamount]]

+ * [[surmount]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}