Advertisement

Origin and history of amount

amount(v.)

late 13c., "to go up, rise, mount (a horse)," from Old French amonter "rise, go up; mean, signify," from amont (adv.) "upward, uphill," literally "to the mountain" (12c.), a contraction of the prepositional phrase a mont, from a (from Latin ad "to;" see ad-) + Latin montem (nominative mons) "mountain" (from PIE root *men- (2) "to project").

The meaning "to rise in number or quality (so as to reach)" is from c. 1300. Compare mount (v.). Related: Amounted; amounting.

amount(n.)

"quantity, sum," 1710, from amount (v.). As nouns, Middle English had amountance, amountment.

also from 1710

Entries linking to amount

mount(v.)

c. 1300, mounten, "to get up on a horse;" mid-14c., "to rise up, rise in amount, ascend; fly," from Old French monter "to go up, ascend, climb, mount," from Vulgar Latin *montare, from Latin mons (genitive montis) "mountain" (from PIE root *men- (2) "to project"). The transitive meaning "to set or place in position" first recorded 1530s. Sense of "to get up on for purposes of copulation" is from 1590s. Meaning "prepare for presentation or exhibition" is by 1712. Military meaning "set up or post for defense" is by 1706; to mount an attack is by 1943. Related: Mounted; mounting.

paramount(adj.)

"supreme, superior in power or jurisdiction," 1530s, from Anglo-French paramont, Old French paramont "above" (in place, order, degree), mid-14c., from Old French par "by," from Latin per "through, for, by" (see per (prep.)) + amont "up," from a mont "upward" (see amount (v.)). The word is equivalent to the Latin phrase per ad montem, literally "to the hill." Related: Paramountcy.

Advertisement

More to explore

tantamount
"equivalent as in value, force, signification, etc.," 1640s, from verbal phrase tant amount "be equivalent" (1620s), from Anglo-French tant amunter "amount to as much" (late 13c.), from Old French tant "as much" (11c., from Latin tantus, from tam "so;" see tandem) + amonter "amou
come
elementary intransitive verb of motion, Old English cuman "to move with the purpose of reaching, or so as to reach, some point; to arrive by movement or progression;" also "move into view, appear, become perceptible; come to oneself, recover; arrive; assemble" (class IV strong ve
number
c. 1300, "sum, aggregate of a collection," from Anglo-French noumbre, Old French nombre and directly from Latin numerus "a number, quantity," from PIE root *nem- "assign, allot; take." The meaning "written symbol or figure of arithmetic value" is from late 14c. The meaning "singl
limited
formed under a law limiting the liability of the members for debts or obligations incurred by the company to a specific amount..., usually the amount of their capital investment....
quantum
1610s, "sum, amount," from Latin quantum (plural quanta) "as much as, so much as; how much? how far?...The word was introduced in physics directly from Latin by Max Planck, 1900, on the notion of "minimum amount of a quantity...
dose
early 15c., "the giving of medicine (in a specified amount or at a stated time)," from Old French dose (15c.) or directly...dosis, from Greek dosis "a portion prescribed," literally "a giving," used by Galen and other Greek physicians to mean an amount...
sum
c. 1300, summe, "quantity or amount of money," from Anglo-French and Old French summe, somme "amount, total; collection;...French somme), from Latin summa "the top, summit; chief place, highest rank; main thing, chief point, essence, gist; an amount...
measure
early 14c., mesuren, "to exercise moderation;" mid-14c., "to deal out or divide up by measure," also "to ascertain spatial dimensions, quantity, or capacity of by comparison with a standard;" from Old French mesurer "measure; moderate, curb" (12c.), from Late Latin mensurare "to
become
Middle English bicomen, from Old English becuman "happen, come about, befall," also "meet with, fall in with; arrive, approach, enter," from Proto-Germanic *bikweman (source also of Dutch bekomen, Old High German biqueman "obtain," German bekommen, Gothic biquiman). A compound of
increase
mid-14c., encresen, "become greater in size or number" (intransitive); late 14c., "cause to grow, enlarge" (transitive), from Anglo-French encress-, Old French encreiss-, present participle stem of encreistre, from Latin increscere "to increase, to grow upon, grow over, swell, gr

Share amount

Advertisement
Trending
Dictionary entries near amount
Advertisement