amount
noun
Amount — the quantity of something, named in plain, everyday terms
Definition
How much there is or how many there are of something that you can quantify
In depth
An amount is, in essence, the same concept as quantity, the measurable extent of how much there is of something, but the word carries a plainer, more colloquial register, equally at home in a grocery list or a heartfelt confession. It is the word reached for first, before precision demands something more technical.
Origin
The word entered English from Old French amonter, to ascend or amount to, ultimately from Latin ad montem, toward the mountain or upward. That surprising origin — amount as a word about climbing or rising — survives faintly in phrases like 'amounting to' a particular sum, as though every total were, etymologically, a small ascent.
Usage examples
"She had saved a small amount of money for exactly this kind of unexpected emergency."
"No amount of apology, he realized too late, could undo what had already been said."
"The recipe was forgiving about the exact amount, so long as the proportions felt roughly right."
How to use it
Amount is the natural default in everyday and narrative prose, useful for both literal quantities and figurative ones, as in 'no amount of effort.' It carries less technical precision than 'quantity,' making it preferable wherever plain, accessible language is the goal.
Related concepts
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