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n. pl. quan·ti·ties 1. a. A specified or indefinite number or amount: shipped a large quantity of books; sells quantities of paper to publishers. b. A considerable amount or number: sells drugs wholesale and in quantity. c. An exact amount or number: the quantity of material recycled in a month. 2. The measurable or countable property or aspect of things: Arithmetic deals with quantity. 3. Mathematics Something that serves as the object of an operation. 4. a. Linguistics The relative amount of time needed to pronounce a vowel, consonant, or syllable. b. The duration of a syllable in quantitative verse. 5. Logic The exact character of a proposition in reference to its universality, singularity, or particularity. [Middle English quantite, from Old French, from Latin quantitās, quantitāt-, from quantus, how great; see kwo- in the Appendix of Indo-European roots.] |
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