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to·tal (tōtl)
Share:
n.
1. An amount obtained by addition; a sum.
2. The whole amount of something; the entirety: The storm damaged the total of the housing units.
adj.
1. Of, relating to, or constituting the whole amount; entire: the total population of the city. See Synonyms at whole.
2. Complete; utter; absolute: total concentration; a total effort; a total fool.
v. to·taled, to·tal·ing, to·tals or to·talled or to·tal·ling
v.tr.
1. To determine the total of; add up: They totaled the applications at 600.
2. To equal a total of; amount to: The week's receipts totaled more than $90,000.
3. To wreck completely; demolish: The driver survived the crash but totaled the car.
v.intr.
To add up; amount: It totals to $25.
Idiom:
in total
All together; entirely.
[Middle English, whole, from Old French, from Medieval Latin tōtālis, from Latin tōtus; see teutā- in the Appendix of Indo-European roots.]
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition copyright ©2022 by HarperCollins Publishers. All rights reserved.
 

Indo-European & Semitic Roots Appendices

    Thousands of entries in the dictionary include etymologies that trace their origins back to reconstructed proto-languages. You can obtain more information about these forms in our online appendices:

    Indo-European Roots

    Semitic Roots

    The Indo-European appendix covers nearly half of the Indo-European roots that have left their mark on English words. A more complete treatment of Indo-European roots and the English words derived from them is available in our Dictionary of Indo-European Roots.

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