n.
Pronunciation: ' mag-n ə - ˌ tüd, - ˌ tyüd
Function: noun
Etymology: Middle English, from Anglo-French, from Latin magnitudo, from magnus
Date: 15th century
1 a : great size or extent b (1) : spatial quality : SIZE (2) : QUANTITY , NUMBER
2 : the importance, quality, or caliber of something
3 : a number representing the intrinsic or apparent brightness of a celestial body on a logarithmic scale in which an increase of one unit corresponds to a reduction in the brightness of light by a factor of 2.512
4 : a numerical quantitative measure expressed usually as a multiple of a standard unit
5 : the intensity of an earthquake represented by a number on an arbitrary scale <a magnitude six earthquake>