quantity

English

Etymology

From Middle English quantite, from Old French quantité, from Latin quantitās (“quantity”), from quantus (“how much”).

Pronunciation

(UK) IPA^(key): /ˈkwɒn.tɪ.ti/
- Audio (UK) (file)
(General American) enPR: kwŏnʹ(t)ĭtē, IPA^(key): /ˈkwɑn(t)ɪti/, [ˈkʰwɑn(ɾ)ɨɾi], [ˈkʰwɑn(tʰ)ɨtʰi]
- Audio (US) (file)
- Audio (US) (file)
  Note: This is with a relaxed middle T, and is only used in colloquial contexts by many speakers.
(Canada) IPA^(key): /ˈkwɑndədi/, /ˈkwɑnɾəɾi/
- Audio (CA) (file)
(obsolete) IPA^(key): /ˈkwæn.tɪ.ti/, /ˈkwæn.tɪ.tɪ/

Noun

quantity (countable and uncountable, plural quantities)

A fundamental, generic term used when referring to the measurement (count, amount) of a scalar, vector, number of items or to some other way of denominating the value of a collection or group of items.
You have to choose between quantity and quality.
An indefinite amount of something.
Some soap making oils are best as base oils, used in a larger quantity in the soap, while other oils are best added in a small quantity.
Olive oil can be used practically in any quantity.
A specific measured amount.
This bag would normally costs $497.50 for a quantity of 250, at a price of $1.99 per piece.
Generally it should not be used in a quantity larger than 15 percent.
A considerable measure or amount.
The Boeing P-26A was the first all-metal monoplane fighter produced in quantity for the U.S. Army Air Corps.
(metrology) Property of a phenomenon, body, or substance, where the property has a magnitude that can be expressed as number and a reference.
(mathematics) Indicates that the entire preceding expression is henceforth considered a single object.
x plus y quantity squared equals x squared plus 2xy plus y squared.
- 2006, Jerome E. Kaufmann and Karen Schwitters, Elementary and Intermediate Algebra: A Combined Approach, p 89
  For problems 58-67, translate each word phrase into an algebraic expression. […] 65. x plus 9, the quantity squared
- 2005, R. Mark Sirkin, Statistics For The Social Sciences, p137
  The second, ${\\displaystyle (\\sum x)^{2}}$ , read "summation of x, quantity squared," tells us to first add up all the xs to get ${\\displaystyle \\sum x}$ and then square ${\\displaystyle \\sum x}$ to get ${\\displaystyle (\\sum x)^{2}}$ .
- 1985, Serge Lang, Math!: Encounters with High School Students, p54
  ANN. ${\\displaystyle ra}$ quantity cubed.
  SERGE LANG. That's right, ${\\displaystyle (ra)^{3}}$ .
(phonology) Length of sounds.

Usage notes

In mathematics, used to unambiguously orate mathematical equations; it is extremely rare in print, since there is no need for it there.

Synonyms

Qty

Derived terms

unknown quantity

Related terms

quant
quanta
quantifier
quantify
quantitate
quantitative
quantum

Translations

fundamental, generic term used when referring to the measurement

Albanian: sasi (sq) f
Arabic: كَمِّيَّة‎ f (kammiyya), مِقْدَار‎ (ar) m (miqdār), قدر‎ (ar) (qadr)
Armenian: քանակ (hy) (kʿanak)
Asturian: cantidá f
Avar: къадар (qxʼadar)
Azerbaijani: kəmiyyət (az), miqdar (az)
Bashkir: һан (han), миҡдар (miqdar)
Basque: kantitatea
Belarusian: ко́лькасць (be) f (kólʹkascʹ)
Bengali: পরিমাণ (pôrimaṇ)
Bulgarian: коли́чество (bg) n (kolíčestvo)
Burmese: အရေအတွက် (my) (a.rea.twak)
Catalan: quantitat (ca) f
Chinese:
Mandarin: 數量／数量 (zh) (shùliàng), 量 (zh) (liàng), 數字／数字 (zh) (shùzì), 數目／数目 (zh) (shùmù), 分量 (zh) (fènliàng)
Min Nan: 數量 (zh-min-nan), 数量 (sò͘-liōng)
Czech: množství (cs) n
Danish: kvantitet (da) c
Dutch: hoeveelheid (nl) f, (mainly used in opposition to 'kwaliteit') kwantiteit (nl) f
Estonian: kogus, kvantiteet
Finnish: määrä (fi)
French: quantité (fr) f
Galician: cantidade (gl) f
Georgian: რაოდენობა (raodenoba), ოდენობა (odenoba)
German: Quantität (de) f, Menge (de) f
Greek: ποσότητα (el) f (posótita)
Ancient: ποσότης f (posótēs)
Hebrew: כַּמוּת‎ (he) f (kamút)
Hindi: मात्रा (hi) f (mātrā), परिमाण (hi) m (parimāṇ)
Hungarian: mennyiség (hu)
Icelandic: magn (is) n
Ido: quanteso (io)
Indonesian: kuantitas (id), jumlah (id)
Interlingua: quantitate
Irish: cainníocht f
Italian: grandezza (it) f, quantità (it) f
Japanese: 量 (ja) (りょう, ryō), 数量 (ja) (すうりょう, sūryō), 分量 (ja) (ぶんりょう, bunryō)
Kazakh: сан (kk) (san)
Khmer: ចំនួន (km) (cɑmnuən)
Korean: 양(量) (ko) (yang), 량(量) (ko) (ryang) (North Korea), 수량(數量) (ko) (suryang), 분량(分量) (ko) (bullyang)
Kurdish:
Central Kurdish: چەندیەتی‎ (çendyetî)
Kyrgyz: сан (ky) (san)
Lao: ປະລິມານ (lo) (pa li mān), ຈຳນວນ (cham nūan)
Latin: quantitās f
Latvian: daudzums m
Lithuanian: kiekis (lt) m
Macedonian: коли́чина f (kolíčina), коли́чество n (kolíčestvo), квантите́т m (kvantitét)
Malay: kuantiti, jumlah
Malayalam: അളവ് (ml) (aḷavŭ)
Maori: rahinga
Mongolian:
Cyrillic: тоо хэмжээ (too xemžee)
Norwegian:
Bokmål: kvantitet (no) m
Persian: کمیت‎ (fa) (kammiyat), مقدار‎ (fa) (meqdâr)
Polish: ilość (pl) f, wielkość (pl) f
Portuguese: quantidade (pt) f
Romanian: cantitate (ro) f
Russian: коли́чество (ru) n (kolíčestvo)
Serbo-Croatian:
Cyrillic: количѝна f, квантите́та f
Roman: količìna (sh) f, kvantitéta (sh) f
Slovak: množstvo n
Slovene: količina (sl) f, kvantiteta f
Spanish: cantidad (es) f
Swedish: kvantitet (sv) c
Tajik: шумора (tg) (šumora), миқдор (miqdor)
Tatar: сан (tt) (san)
Telugu: పరిమాణము (te) (parimāṇamu)
Thai: ปริมาณ (th) (bpà-rí-maan), จำนวน (th) (jam-nuuan)
Turkish: miktar (tr)
Turkmen: san (tk), mukdar (tk)
Ukrainian: кі́лькість (uk) f (kílʹkistʹ)
Urdu: مقدار‎ m (miqdār)
Uyghur: سان‎ (san), مىقدار‎ (miqdar)
Uzbek: son (uz), miqdor (uz)
Vietnamese: lượng (vi), số lượng (vi)
Walloon: cwantité (wa) f
Zazaki: miktar n

indefinite amount of something

Bulgarian: коли́чество (bg) n (kolíčestvo)
Catalan: quantitat (ca) f
Dutch: hoeveelheid (nl) f
Ewe: gbɔsɔsɔ
Finnish: määrä (fi)
French: quantité (fr) f
Georgian: რაოდენობა (raodenoba)
German: Quantität (de) f
Greek: ποσότητα (el) f (posótita)
Ancient: ποσότης f (posótēs)
Hebrew: כַּמוּת‎ (he) f (kamút)
Ido: quanto (io)
Irish: cainníocht f
Italian: numero (it) m
Latvian: daudzums m
Macedonian: коли́чество n (kolíčestvo)
Norwegian:
Bokmål: mengde (no) m
Nynorsk: mengd f
Polish: ilość (pl) f
Portuguese: quantidade (pt) f
Romanian: cantitate (ro) f
Russian: коли́чество (ru) n (kolíčestvo)
Slovene: količina (sl) f
Spanish: cantidad (es) f, cuantía (es)
Swedish: kvantitet (sv) c, mängd (sv) c
Waray-Waray: kantidad, kadamo
Zazaki: çend (diq), çend (diq) c
ǃXóõ: ǃɢa̰n-ǃɢa̰n (of objects), dzâa (of people)

specific measured amount

Bulgarian: коли́чество (bg) n (kolíčestvo)
Catalan: quantitat (ca) f
Dutch: hoeveelheid (nl) f
Estonian: hulk (et)
Ewe: gbɔsɔsɔ
Finnish: määrä (fi)
Georgian: რაოდენობა (raodenoba)
Greek: ποσότητα (el) f (posótita)
Hebrew: כַּמוּת‎ (he) f (kamút)
Irish: cainníocht f
Latvian: daudzums m
Macedonian: коли́чина f (kolíčina)
Malayalam: അളവ് (ml) (aḷavŭ)
Norwegian:
Bokmål: mengde (no) m, antall (no) n
Nynorsk: mengd f, tal n
Polish: ilość (pl) f
Portuguese: quantidade (pt) f
Russian: коли́чество (ru) n (kolíčestvo)
Slovene: količina (sl) f
Swedish: mängd (sv) c (uncountable), antal (sv) n (countable)
Zazaki: hend (diq) c or impf
ǃXóõ: ʻǁnàhã

considerable measure or amount

Catalan: quantitat (ca) f
Ewe: gbɔsɔsɔ
Finnish: merkittävä määrä, paljous (fi)
Georgian: რაოდენობა (raodenoba)
German: Menge (de) f
Hebrew: כַּמוּת‎ (he) f (kamút)
Latvian: daudzums m
Macedonian: коли́чество n (kolíčestvo), коли́чина f (kolíčina)
Norwegian:
Bokmål: mengde (no) m, antall (no) n
Nynorsk: mengd f, tal n
Polish: duża ilość (pl)
Portuguese: quantidade (pt) f
Romanian: mulțime (ro) f, mare cantitate f
Russian: коли́чество (ru) n (kolíčestvo)
Spanish: cantidad (es) f

word used to indicate that preceding expression is a single object

Finnish: suluissa (fi)
German: in Klammern
Zazaki: henq n

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

Translations to be checked

Esperanto: ^{(please verify)} kvanto (eo)
Georgian: ^{(please verify)} რაოდენობა (raodenoba), ^{(please verify)} ზომა (zoma)
Ido: (suffix) ^{(please verify)} -ed
Indonesian: ^{(please verify)} kuantitas (id)
Interlingua: ^{(please verify)} quantitate
Italian: ^{(please verify)} quantità (it) f
Korean: ^{(please verify)} 분량 (ko) (bullyang)
Kurdish:
Central Kurdish: ^{(please verify)} چھندی‎ (çhindî)
Latin: ^{(please verify)} quantum (la) n, ^{(please verify)} quantitas, ^{(please verify)} quantitatis f
Malay: ^{(please verify)} kuantiti
Spanish: ^{(please verify)} cantidad (es) f
Volapük: ^{(please verify)} mödot (vo)