sum English · revision 5873

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=c. 1290|origins=la summa}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /sʌm/^(Roach et al. 2011)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is Middle English summe, somme, [[bor|xno|summe]], [[m|fro|summe|t=amount, total; essential point]] (modern French somme),^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988)^(Hoad 1986) from [[m|la|summa|t=the top; main thing, essence; total]],^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988)^(Cresswell 2021) a noun use of the feminine of summus “highest”,^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988)^(Hoad 1986) earlier *supmos, from the root of [[m|la|super|t=over]] (see [[over]]).^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)^(MWU 2024) The verb is from Old French summer, sommer, or directly [[der|la-med|summāre|t=to add up]].^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988)^(Hoad 1986)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ A quantity or amount of money: about 1290 in the OED, about 1300 in Barnhart and Etymonline.^(OED 1989)^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ The passage from “highest” to “total” is probably due to the Roman custom of adding a column of figures upwards and writing the total at the top, which Barnhart and Etymonline compare with the modern [[bottom line]].^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline) The whole, or the principal points viewed together, is from about 1300, and the essence of a writing or speech from the mid-14th century.^(Etymonline) The mathematical aggregate of numbers is from the early 15th century,^(Etymonline)^(Hoad 1986) and an arithmetical problem to be solved, as in doing sums at school, from 1803.^(Etymonline) ''Sum total'' is from the late 14th century, after Medieval Latin summa totalis.^(Etymonline) The verb, to count up, is from before 1325 in Barnhart;^(Barnhart 1988) to state briefly the substance of something is from before 1398 in Barnhart and the 1620s in Etymonline,^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline) and since about 1700 is usually ''sum up''.^(Etymonline) Word Origins links a schoolchild's sums with a judge's summing up, and notes that [[summary]] and [[summit]] come from the same Latin.^(Cresswell 2021)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 1290 – a sum of money.^(OED 1989)

+ * c. 1300 – the whole, the main points.^(Etymonline)

+ * before 1325 – the verb, to count up.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * late 14th century – sum total.^(Etymonline)

+ * early 15th century – the result of adding.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1803 – an arithmetical problem.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # The number obtained by [[addition|alt=adding]] two or more numbers.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # A problem in [[arithmetic]].^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # An amount of [[money]].^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # The whole amount; the total.^(AHD)

+ # The [[essence]] or gist of something; a summary.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+

+ ===Verb===

+ # To add up.^(AHD)

+ # ''(usually sum up)'' To give a short account of; to [[summarize]].^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[summability]]

+ * [[summable]]

+ * [[sumless]]

+ * [[sumlessness]]

+ * [[checksum]]

+ * [[zero-sum]]

+ * [[sum-up]]

+ * [[outsum]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[summand]]

+ * [[summary]]

+ * [[summation]]

+ * [[summative]]

+ * [[summit]]

+ * [[super]]

+ * [[over]]

+ * [[supreme]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}