quantity

[kwon-ti-tee] /ˈkwɒn tɪ ti/
noun, plural quantities.
1.
a particular or indefinite amount of anything:
a small quantity of milk; the ocean's vast quantity of fish.
2.
an exact or specified amount or measure:
Mix the ingredients in the quantities called for.
3.
a considerable or great amount:
to extract ore in quantity.
4.
Mathematics.
  1. the property of magnitude involving comparability with other magnitudes.
  2. something having magnitude, or size, extent, amount, or the like.
  3. magnitude, size, volume, area, or length.
5.
Music. the length or duration of a note.
6.
Logic. the character of a proposition as singular, universal, particular, or mixed, according to the presence or absence of certain kinds of quantifiers.
7.
that amount, degree, etc., in terms of which another is greater or lesser.
8.
Prosody, Phonetics. the relative duration or length of a sound or a syllable, with respect to the time spent in pronouncing it; length.
9.
Law. the nature of an estate as affected by its duration in time.
Origin
1250-1300; Middle English quantite < Old French < Latin quantitās, equivalent to quant(us) how much + -itās -ity
British Dictionary definitions for quantity

quantity

/ˈkwɒntɪtɪ/
noun (pl) -ties
1.
  1. a specified or definite amount, weight, number, etc
  2. (as modifier): a quantity estimate
2.
the aspect or property of anything that can be measured, weighed, counted, etc
3.
a large or considerable amount
4.
(maths) an entity having a magnitude that may be denoted by a numerical expression
5.
(physics) a specified magnitude or amount; the product of a number and a unit
6.
(logic) the characteristic of a proposition dependent on whether it is a universal or particular statement, considering all or only part of a class
7.
(prosody) the relative duration of a syllable or the vowel in it
Usage note
The use of a plural noun after quantity of as in a large quantity of bananas was formerly considered incorrect, but is now acceptable
Word Origin
C14: from Old French quantité, from Latin quantitās extent, amount, from quantus how much
Word Origin and History for quantity
n.

early 14c., from Old French quantite, cantite (12c., Modern French quantité) and directly from Latin quantitatem (nominative quantitas) "relative greatness or extent," coined as a loan-translation of Greek posotes (from posos "how great? how much?") from Latin quantus "of what size? how much? how great? what amount?," correlative pronomial adjective, related to qui "who" (see who).

Latin quantitatem also is the source of Italian quantita, Spanish cantidad, Danish and Swedish kvantitet, German quantitat.

quantity in Science
quantity
  (kwŏn'tĭ-tē)   
Something, such as a number or symbol that represents a number, on which a mathematical operation is performed.
Idioms and Phrases with quantity

quantity

see: unknown quantity