quantity
Other forms: quantities
Quantity tells you “how much.” If you're concerned with quantity not quality, it's more important how many you have than how good they are.
If you get confused about quantity vs. quality, remember that quant is close to count. In Latin, quantus means “how great” or “how much.” When you count how many oranges are in a bowl, you know the quantity. When you count the grains of sand in a desert, you're counting a very large quantity . . . and you need a new hobby.
Definitions of quantity
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how much there is or how many there are of something that you can quantify
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types:
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chance, probability
a measure of how likely it is that some event will occur; a number expressing the ratio of favorable cases to the whole number of cases possible
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quantum
(physics) the smallest discrete quantity of some physical property that a system can possess (according to quantum theory)
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economic value, value
the amount (of money or goods or services) that is considered to be a fair equivalent for something else
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fundamental measure, fundamental quantity
one of the four quantities that are the basis of systems of measurement
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definite quantity
a specific measure of amount
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indefinite quantity
an estimated quantity
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relative quantity
a quantity relative to some purpose
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metric, system of measurement
a system of related measures that facilitates the quantification of some particular characteristic
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cordage
the amount of wood in an area as measured in cords
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octane number, octane rating
a measure of the antiknock properties of gasoline
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magnetisation, magnetization
the extent or degree to which something is magnetized
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radical
(mathematics) a quantity expressed as the root of another quantity
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volume
the amount of 3-dimensional space occupied by an object
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volume
a relative amount
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proof
a measure of alcoholic strength expressed as an integer twice the percentage of alcohol present (by volume)
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time unit, unit of time
a unit for measuring time periods
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point, point in time
an instant of time
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period of play, play, playing period
(in games or plays or other performances) the time during which play proceeds
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interval, time interval
a definite length of time marked off by two instants
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golf hole, hole
one playing period (from tee to green) on a golf course
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temperature
the degree of hotness or coldness of a body or environment (corresponding to its molecular activity)
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mass
the property of a body that causes it to have weight in a gravitational field
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conditional probability, contingent probability
the probability that an event will occur given that one or more other events have occurred
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cross section
(physics) the probability that a particular interaction (as capture or ionization) will take place between particles; measured in barns
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exceedance
(geology) the probability that an earthquake will generate a level of ground motion that exceeds a specified reference level during a given exposure time
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fair chance, sporting chance
a reasonable probability of success
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fat chance, slim chance
little or no chance of success
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joint probability
the probability of two events occurring together
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risk, risk of exposure
the probability of being exposed to an infectious agent
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risk, risk of infection
the probability of becoming infected given that exposure to an infectious agent has occurred
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length
the linear extent in space from one end to the other; the longest dimension of something that is fixed in place
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quasiparticle
a quantum of energy (in a crystal lattice or other system) that has position and momentum and can in some respects be regarded as a particle
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criterion, measure, standard, touchstone
a basis for comparison; a reference point against which other things can be evaluated
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mess of pottage
anything of trivial value
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premium
the amount that something in scarce supply is valued above its nominal value
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system of weights and measures
system of measurement for length and weight and duration
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point system
a system of graduating sizes of type in multiples of the point
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information measure
a system of measurement of information based on the probabilities of the events that convey information
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utility
(economics) a measure that is to be maximized in any situation involving choice
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enough, sufficiency
an adequate quantity; a quantity that is large enough to achieve a purpose
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N, normality
(of a solution) concentration expressed in gram equivalents of solute per liter
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absolute majority, majority
(elections) more than half of the votes
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plurality, relative majority
(in an election with more than 2 options) the number of votes for the candidate or party receiving the greatest number (but less that half of the votes)
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absolute value, numerical value
a real number regardless of its sign
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acid value
(chemistry) the amount of free acid present in fat as measured by the milligrams of potassium hydroxide needed to neutralize it
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chlorinity
a measure of the quantity of chlorine or other halides in water (especially seawater)
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number
a concept of quantity involving zero and units
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quire
a quantity of paper; 24 or 25 sheets
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ream
a quantity of paper; 480 or 500 sheets; one ream equals 20 quires
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solubility
the quantity of a particular substance that can dissolve in a particular solvent (yielding a saturated solution)
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toxicity
the degree to which something is poisonous
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unit, unit of measurement
any division of quantity accepted as a standard of measurement or exchange
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magnetic flux
a measure of the strength of a magnetic field over a given area
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Brix scale
a system for measuring the concentration of sugar solutions
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circular measure
measurement of angles in radians
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board measure
a system of units for measuring lumber based on the board foot
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Beaufort scale
a scale from 0 to 12 for the force of the wind
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system of weights, weight
a system of units used to express the weight of something
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aught, cipher, cypher, goose egg, nada, naught, nil, nix, nothing, null, zero, zilch, zip, zippo
a quantity of no importance
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addition, gain, increase
a quantity that is added
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bag
the quantity of game taken in a particular period (usually by one person)
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breakage
the quantity broken
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capacity
(computer science) the amount of information (in bytes) that can be stored on a disk drive
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catch, haul
the quantity that was caught
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correction, fudge factor
a quantity that is added or subtracted in order to increase the accuracy of a scientific measure
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containerful
the quantity that a container will hold
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footstep, pace, step, stride
the distance covered by a step
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headspace
the volume left at the top of a filled container (bottle or jar or tin) before sealing
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large indefinite amount, large indefinite quantity
an indefinite quantity that is above the average in size or magnitude
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limit, limitation
the greatest amount of something that is possible or allowed
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limit, limit point, point of accumulation
the mathematical value toward which a function goes as the independent variable approaches infinity
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output, production, yield
the quantity of something (as a commodity) that is created (usually within a given period of time)
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neighborhood, region
the approximate amount of something (usually used prepositionally as in `in the region of')
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outage
the amount of something (as whiskey or oil) lost in storage or transportation
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reserve
(medicine) potential capacity to respond in order to maintain vital functions
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run
the production achieved during a continuous period of operation (of a machine or factory etc.)
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small indefinite amount, small indefinite quantity
an indefinite quantity that is below average size or magnitude
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spillage
the amount that has spilled
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spoilage
the amount that has spoiled
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tankage
the quantity contained in (or the capacity of) a tank or tanks
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ullage
the amount that a container (as a wine bottle or tank) lacks of being full
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top-up
an amount needed to restore something to its former level
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worth
an indefinite quantity of something having a specified value
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skinful
a quantity of alcoholic drink sufficient to make you drunk
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dosage, dose
the quantity of an active agent (substance or radiation) taken in or absorbed at any one time
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load
an amount of alcohol sufficient to intoxicate
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load, loading
a quantity that can be processed or transported at one time
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precipitation
the quantity of water falling to earth at a specific place within a specified period of time
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supply
an amount of something available for use
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capacity, content
the amount that can be contained
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temperature scale
a system of measuring temperature
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period, period of time, time period
an amount of time
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24-hour interval, day, mean solar day, solar day, twenty-four hour period, twenty-four hours
time for Earth to make a complete rotation on its axis
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night
the dark part of the diurnal cycle considered a time unit
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mean solar time, mean time
(astronomy) time based on the motion of the mean sun (an imaginary sun moving uniformly along the celestial equator)
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TDT, TT, ephemeris time, terrestrial dynamical time, terrestrial time
(astronomy) a measure of time defined by Earth's orbital motion; terrestrial time is mean solar time corrected for the irregularities of the Earth's motions
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access time
(computer science) the interval between the time data is requested by the system and the time the data is provided by the drive
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distance, space
the interval between two times
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distance
a remote point in time
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embolism, intercalation
an insertion into a calendar
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date, particular date
a particular but unspecified point in time
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deadline
the point in time at which something must be completed
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arrival time, time of arrival
the time at which a public conveyance is scheduled to arrive at a given destination
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departure time, time of departure
the time at which a public conveyance is scheduled to depart from a given point of origin
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month
a time unit of approximately 30 days
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day, sidereal day
the time for one complete rotation of the earth relative to a particular star, about 4 minutes shorter than a mean solar day
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midterm
middle of an academic term or a political term in office
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full term, term
the end of gestation or point at which birth is imminent
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midterm
the middle of the gestation period
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bell, ship's bell
(nautical) each of the eight half-hour units of nautical time signaled by strokes of a ship's bell; eight bells signals 4:00, 8:00, or 12:00 o'clock, either a.m. or p.m.
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60 minutes, hour, hr
a period of time equal to 1/24th of a day
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30 minutes, half-hour
a half of an hour
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15 minutes, quarter-hour
a quarter of an hour
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min, minute
a unit of time equal to 60 seconds or 1/60th of an hour
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quarter
a unit of time equal to 15 minutes or a quarter of an hour
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s, sec, second
1/60 of a minute; the basic unit of time adopted under the Systeme International d'Unites
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attosecond
one quintillionth (10^-18) of a second; one thousandth of a femtosecond
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femtosecond
one quadrillionth (10^-15) of a second; one thousandth of a picosecond
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picosecond
one trillionth (10^-12) of a second; one thousandth of a nanosecond
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nanosecond
one billionth (10^-9) of a second; one thousandth of a microsecond
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microsecond
one millionth (10^-6) of a second; one thousandth of a millisecond
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millisecond, msec
one thousandth (10^-3) of a second
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instant, minute, moment, second
a particular point in time
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set
a unit of play in tennis or squash
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run-time
the time at which a (software or multimedia) program is run
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beginning, commencement, first, get-go, kickoff, offset, outset, showtime, start, starting time
the time at which something is supposed to begin
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middle
time between the beginning and the end of a temporal period
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end, ending
the point in time at which something ends
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seek time
(computer science) the time it takes for a read/write head to move to a specific data track
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time constant
(electronics) the time required for the current or voltage in a circuit to rise or fall exponentially through approximately 63 per cent of its amplitude
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slot, time slot
a time assigned on a schedule or agenda
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lunitidal interval
interval between the moon's transit of a particular meridian and the next high tide at that meridian
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absence
the time interval during which something or somebody is away
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break, intermission, interruption, pause, suspension
a time interval during which there is a temporary cessation of something
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interlude
an intervening period or episode
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interim, lag, meantime, meanwhile
the time between one event, process, or period and another
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latent period
the time that elapses before the presence of a disease is manifested by symptoms
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latency, latent period, reaction time, response time
the time that elapses between a stimulus and the response to it
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eternity
a seemingly endless time interval (waiting)
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cycle, rhythm, round
an interval during which a recurring sequence of events occurs
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lead time
the time interval between the initiation and the completion of a production process
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period
the interval taken to complete one cycle of a regularly repeating phenomenon
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phase, phase angle
a particular point in the time of a cycle; measured from some arbitrary zero and expressed as an angle
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float
the time interval between the deposit of a check in a bank and its payment
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show time
the point in time at which an entertainment (a movie or television show etc.) is scheduled to begin
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then
that time; that moment
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latency, rotational latency
(computer science) the time it takes for a specific block of data on a data track to rotate around to the read/write head
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processing time
the time it takes to complete a prescribed procedure
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type of:
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abstract entity, abstraction
a general concept formed by extracting common features from specific examples
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the concept that something has a magnitude and can be represented in mathematical expressions by a constant or a variable
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types:
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quantum
a discrete amount of something that is analogous to the quantities in quantum theory
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term
any distinct quantity contained in a polynomial
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numerical quantity
a quantity expressed as a number
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operand
a quantity upon which a mathematical operation is performed
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variable, variable quantity
a quantity that can assume any of a set of values
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constant, constant quantity, invariable
a quantity that does not vary
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parameter
a quantity (such as the mean or variance) that characterizes a statistical population and that can be estimated by calculations from sample data
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mathematical product, product
a quantity obtained by multiplication
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amount, sum, total
a quantity obtained by the addition of a group of numbers
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proportional
one of the quantities in a mathematical proportion
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binomial
(mathematics) a quantity expressed as a sum or difference of two terms; a polynomial with two terms
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input
(mathematics) a quantity or variable that, when fed into a function, results in a single output
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output
(mathematics) the result or solution of a function that is associated with a single input
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zero, zero point
the point on a scale from which positive or negative numerical quantities can be measured
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value
a numerical quantity measured or assigned or computed
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vote, voter turnout
the total number of voters who participated
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argument
a variable in a logical or mathematical expression whose value determines the dependent variable; if f(x)=y, x is the independent variable
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experimental variable, independent variable
(statistics) a variable whose values are independent of changes in the values of other variables
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correlate, correlative
either of two or more related or complementary variables
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degree of freedom
(statistics) an unrestricted variable in a frequency distribution
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dependent variable
(statistics) a variable in a logical or mathematical expression whose value depends on the independent variable
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parameter, parametric quantity
a constant in the equation of a curve that can be varied to yield a family of similar curves
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factorial
the product of all the integers up to and including a given integer
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multiple
the product of a quantity by an integer
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grand total
the sum of the sums of several groups of numbers
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subtotal
the sum of part of a group of numbers
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predictor variable
a variable that can be used to predict the value of another variable (as in statistical regression)
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infinitesimal
(mathematics) a variable that has zero as its limit
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chance variable, random variable, stochastic variable, variant, variate
a variable quantity that is random
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scalar
a variable quantity that cannot be resolved into components
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tensor
a generalization of the concept of a vector
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vector
a variable quantity that can be resolved into components
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type of:
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concept, conception, construct
an abstract or general idea inferred or derived from specific instances
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an adequate or large amount“he had a quantity of ammunition”
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types:
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abundance, copiousness, teemingness
the property of a more than adequate quantity or supply
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amplitude, bountifulness, bounty
the property of copious abundance
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plenitude, plenteousness, plentifulness, plentitude, plenty
a full supply
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cornucopia, profuseness, profusion, richness
the property of being extremely abundant
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wealth
the quality of profuse abundance
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lushness, luxuriance, voluptuousness
the property of being lush and abundant and a pleasure to the senses
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overabundance, overmuch, overmuchness, superabundance
a quantity that is more than what is appropriate
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type of:
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amount
the relative magnitude of something with reference to a criterion
Pronunciation
US
/ˈkwɑntədi/
UK
/ˈkwɒntɪti/
DISCLAIMER: These example sentences appear in various news sources and books to reflect the usage of the word ‘quantity'.
Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Vocabulary.com or its editors.
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