DictionaryAI

amount

uh-MOWNT/əˈmaʊnt/

Pluralamounts

Verbamounts, amounting, amounted

Often confused with number

6 meanings of amount

Practice

  1. 1
    quantitynouncountable
    How much there is of something, especially something measured as a whole rather than counted.

    The recipe calls for a generous amount of sugar.

    Researchers measured the amount of rainfall over the past year.

    UsageUse amount of with things you measure (water, time, money); for things you count, number of is usual: a number of people.

  2. 2
    sum of moneynouncountable
    A specific sum of money, for instance the total someone owes, the price a seller charges, or what a person is paid.

    Enter the amount you want to transfer, then confirm the payment.

    Customers can withdraw amounts of up to $500 a day from the machine.

    UsageOften in the amount due, the full amount, the outstanding amount; it can be plural: amounts owed.

    Similarsum, total, figure

  3. 3
    add upverbintransitivewith to
    To add up to or come to a total when the parts are combined.

    The yearly savings amount to a significant sum.

    His debts amounted to more than he could ever repay.

    Similartotal

  4. 4
    be equalverbintransitivewith to
    To be equivalent to something or reach up to the same level as it.

    Her remarks amount to an open accusation.

    Skipping a single meeting hardly amounts to neglecting your duties.

    UsageOften negative: not amount to much, amount to nothing; never amounted to much says a person achieved little success or importance.

    Similarconstitute, equal, represent

    Note

    Here the total is a verdict rather than a sum: a response amounts to insubordination, and a tracking system amounts to a warrantless search.

  5. 5
    nounnonstandardcountable
    The number, or total count, of elements in a set.

    The amount of members in the club doubled over a year.

    The amount of items on the list kept growing.

    UsageIn careful writing, number of is preferred for things counted one by one: the number of students.

    Similarnumber, count

    Note

    Careful editors flag this usage, which stretches the word to things counted one by one, such as students or members. Gisella Gori's Towards an EU right to education (2001) writes of "the final amount of students," which shows how readily it slips into formal prose.

Less common meaning

  1. 6
    verbobsoleteintransitive
    To go up; to rise or ascend.
    So up he rose, and thence amounted straight.
    1590, Edmund Spenser, The Faerie Queene
    Note

    This is the literal climb behind the "add up to" verb. Spenser still uses it in The Faerie Queene (1590): "So up he rose, and thence amounted straight."

Practice

Can you tell the meanings of amount apart? Answer 3 quick questions from this page, or write your own sentence and AI will check it.

Origin

This comes from Middle English amounten ("to mount up to, signify"), from Old French amonter, based on amont ("uphill, upward"). That came from the phrase a mont ("toward a mountain or heap"), from Latin ad montem, formed from ad ("to") plus mons ("mountain").

Checked 5 Nov 2026 · 5 facts

  • Amount comes from Middle English amounten, meaning to mount up to or signify. en.wiktionary.org
  • Middle English amounten was borrowed from Old French amonter. en.wiktionary.org
  • Amonter derives from amont, meaning uphill or upward. en.wiktionary.org
  • Amont derives from the phrase a mont, meaning toward a mountain or heap. en.wiktionary.org
  • The phrase derives from Latin ad montem, combining ad with the accusative of mons. en.wiktionary.org