ˈmagnəˌtüd, ˈmaig-, -nə.ˌtyüd noun
( -s )
Etymology: Middle English, from Latin magnitudo, from magnus great + -i- + -tudo -tude — more at much
1. obsolete : greatness of character or position : nobility
2.
a.
(1) : greatness of size or extent : vastness
cannot wage a war of such magnitude … without inaugurating a new epoch — A.N.Whitehead
the magnitude of his literary output — H.W.H.Knott
the magnitude of the shift away from centralized planning of all economic activity — Harry Schwartz
(2) : size 3a(1)
negative accelerations of any considerable magnitude in aircraft are seldom encountered — H.G.Armstrong
able to operate only over distances of very small magnitude — G.W.Gray b. 1886
(3) : quantity , number
the savings in amounts of metal … will be of dramatically significant magnitudes — American Fabrics
b. : volume , loudness
the magnitude of the total sound made … was astounding — William Beebe
3. : the importance, quality, or caliber of something
a seaside curiosity of the first magnitude — Charles Gordon
disappointing work by a writer of first magnitude — Richard Plant
this is no bad test of the stature, or rather the magnitude , of a poet — David Daiches
this court can be insensible neither to the magnitude nor delicacy of this question — John Marshall
4. : a number representing the intrinsic or apparent brightness of a celestial body on a logarithmic scale in which a difference of one unit corresponds to the multiplication or division of the brightness of light by 2.512+ and a difference of five units corresponds to the multiplication or division by 100
a star of magnitude 3.0 is approximately 2.512 times brighter than a star of magnitude 4.0
a star of magnitude 1.0 is 100 times brighter than one of magnitude 6.0
— compare absolute magnitude , apparent magnitude , visual magnitude
5. : a number assigned to a quantity by means of which the quantity may be compared with other quantities of the same class
6. : the amount of energy released at the source of an earthquake or indicated by the intensity of an earthquake at one place and usually represented by a number on an arbitrary scale
Synonyms: see size