total

[toht-l] /ˈtoʊt l/
adjective
1.
constituting or comprising the whole; entire; whole:
the total expenditure.
2.
of or pertaining to the whole of something:
the total effect of a play.
3.
complete in extent or degree; absolute; unqualified; utter:
a total failure.
4.
involving all aspects, elements, participants, resources, etc.; unqualified; all-out:
total war.
noun
5.
the total amount; sum; aggregate:
a total of $200.
6.
the whole; an entirety:
the impressive total of Mozart's achievement.
verb (used with object), totaled, totaling or (especially British) totalled, totalling.
7.
to bring to a total; add up.
8.
to reach a total of; amount to.
9.
Slang. to wreck or demolish completely:
He totaled his new car in the accident.
verb (used without object), totaled, totaling or (especially British) totalled, totalling.
10.
to amount (often followed by to).
Origin
1350-1400; Middle English (adj.) < Medieval Latin tōtālis, equivalent to Latin tōt(us) entire + -ālis -al1
Related forms
quasi-total, adjective
quasi-totally, adverb
retotal, verb (used with object), retotaled, retotaling or (especially British) retotalled, retotalling, noun
supertotal, noun
untotaled, adjective
untotalled, adjective
Synonyms
1. complete. 5, 6. gross, totality. 6. See whole.
Examples from the web for total
  • The distributions of the scholars from the top-six ranking countries and the total number are shown in the figure.
  • Complete and total anarchy, where anyone can do anything, also doesn't work.
  • total laryngectomy is major surgery that is done in the hospital.
  • The result is that almost two-thirds of the university's total tuition revenue comes from one-third of its students.
  • Corporation taxes are only part of the total levy on businesses.
  • The full moon is plunging into the longest and deepest total lunar eclipse in more than a decade.
  • Thus game console usage is an even smaller part of the total picture than this article pretends.
  • To do it properly required a total understanding of the art and culture that gave rise to particular modes of writing.
  • About half of the total stock would die each year of natural causes even if no fishing occurred.
  • Most rumors have put the total number of apps somewhere in the thousands.
British Dictionary definitions for total

total

/ˈtəʊtəl/
noun
1.
the whole, esp regarded as the complete sum of a number of parts
adjective
2.
complete; absolute: the evening was a total failure, a total eclipse
3.
(prenominal) being or related to a total: the total number of passengers
verb -tals, -talling, -talled (US) -tals, -taling, -taled
4.
when intr, sometimes foll by to. to amount: to total six pounds
5.
(transitive) to add up: to total a list of prices
6.
(transitive) (slang) to kill or badly injure (someone)
7.
(transitive) (mainly US) to damage (a vehicle) beyond repair
Derived Forms
totally, adverb
Word Origin
C14: from Old French, from Medieval Latin tōtālis, from Latin tōtus all
Word Origin and History for total
adj.

late 14c., from Old French total, from Medieval Latin totalis "entire, total" (as in summa totalis "sum total"), from Latin totus "all, whole, entire," of unknown origin. Total war is attested from 1937, in reference to a concept developed in Germany.

n.

1550s, from total (adj.).

v.

1716, from total (n.). Meaning "to destroy one's car" first recorded 1954. Related: Totaled; totaling.

Slang definitions & phrases for total

total

verb
  1. To destroy; totally wreck, esp a car: It didn't look like much of a wreck, but his car was totaled (1954+)
  2. To maim or kill; grievously injure; waste: Mightn't a tile have fallen off a roof and totaled us by dinnertime? (1895+)

[first sense fr the phrase a total loss, having to do with something insured]