I. sum 1 S2 W2 AC /sʌm/ BrE AmE noun [countable]
[ Date: 1200-1300 ; Language: Old French ; Origin: summe , from Latin summa , from summus 'highest' ]
1 . MONEY an amount of money:
He owes me a large sum of money.
sum of
the sum of £4,000
large/substantial/considerable etc sum
Bill wants to spend a large sum on modernizing the farm.
small/modest/trifling etc sum
We should be happy to buy it for a modest sum
⇨ ↑ lump sum , ⇨ princely sum at ↑ princely (1)
2 . the sum of something the total produced when you add two or more numbers or amounts together:
You will have to pay the sum of the two sets of costs.
3 . greater/more/better etc than the sum of its parts having a quality or effectiveness as a group that you would not expect from the quality of each member:
The team is greater than the sum of its parts.
4 . CALCULATION a simple calculation by adding, multiplying, dividing etc, especially one done by children at school
5 . do your sums informal British English to calculate whether you have enough money to do something:
Do your sums first before you decide how much to spend.
6 . in sum formal used before a statement that gives the main information about something in a few simple words:
In sum, soul music is important to the record industry.
⇨ ↑ sum total
• • •
COLLOCATIONS
■ phrases
▪ a sum of money
We urge people not to keep large sums of money in their houses.
■ adjectives
▪ a large/considerable/substantial sum
He lost a substantial sum of money on the deal.
▪ a huge/enormous/vast sum
The company has invested huge sums in research.
▪ a five-figure/six-figure/seven-figure etc sum (=an amount in the ten thousands, hundred thousands etc )
The newspaper paid a six-figure sum for the photograph of the princess.
▪ a small sum
Each year the inhabitants had to pay a small sum for the use of the pasture.
▪ a modest sum (=not a very big amount of money)
She had paid a modest sum for the paintings.
▪ an undisclosed sum (=an amount that is being kept secret)
He sold the company for an undisclosed sum.
▪ a tidy sum informal (=a large amount of money)
I had managed to save a tidy sum.
▪ the total sum
The total sum lost is believed to be around £2 million.
▪ the princely sum of ... (=a large amount – often used humorously to mean a small amount)
They were surviving on the princely sum of £50 a week.
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For the princely sum of $8 million you too could live in a mansion like this.
II. sum 2 AC BrE AmE verb ( past tense and past participle summed , present participle summing )
sum up phrasal verb
1 . to give the main information in a report, speech etc in a short statement at the end SYN summarize :
Gerald will open the debate and I will sum up.
to sum up
To sum up, for a healthy heart you must take regular exercise and stop smoking.
sum something ↔ up
In your final paragraph, sum up your argument.
2 . when a judge sums up or sums up the case at the end of a ↑ trial , he or she explains the main facts of the case ⇨ ↑ summing-up
3 . sum something ↔ up to describe something using only a few words SYN summarize :
The city’s problem can be summed up in three words: too many people.
4 . sum something ↔ up to show the most typical qualities of someone or something:
That image sums up the whole film.
5 . sum somebody/something ↔ up to form a judgment or opinion about someone or something SYN assess :
Pat summed up the situation at a glance.
6 . that (about) sums it up spoken used to say that a description of a situation is correct:
‘So you want us to help you change but you don’t believe change is possible?’ ‘That about sums it up.’