n.
Pronunciation: ' kwän-t ə -t ē
Function: noun
Inflected Form: plural -ties
Etymology: Middle English quantite, from Anglo-French quantité, from Latin quantitat-, quantitas, from quantus how much, how large; akin to Latin quam how, as, quando when, qui who ― more at WHO
Date: 14th century
1 a : an indefinite amount or number b : a determinate or estimated amount c : total amount or number d : a considerable amount or number ― often used in plural <generous quantities of luck ― H. E. Putsch>
2 a : the aspect in which a thing is measurable in terms of greater, less, or equal or of increasing or decreasing magnitude b : the subject of a mathematical operation c : an individual considered with respect to a given situation <an unknown quantity ⋯ as attorney general ― Tom Wicker>
3 a : duration and intensity of speech sounds as distinct from their individual quality or phonemic character specifically : the relative length or brevity of a prosodic syllable in some languages (as Greek and Latin) b : the relative duration or time length of a speech sound or sound sequence
4 : the character of a logical proposition as being universal, particular, or singular