amount

The word “amount” means a quantity of something, especially something that can't easily be counted as separate units. In plain terms, how much of something there is, or, as a verb, to add up to a certain total or level.

“Amount” is pronounced uh-MOWNT (/əˈmaʊnt/ in IPA).

Here is “amount” used in a sentence: “They spent a huge amount of money on the renovation.”

Depending on how it is used, “amount” can be a noun and a verb.

The word “amount” comes from Latin. From Old French amonter, "to go up, to add up to", from a mont, "toward a mountain" — from Latin ad montem, "to the mountain".

“Amount” is a very common word in modern English, usually learned at around the B1 level.

“Amount” has 2 distinct senses listed in this dictionary. The most common is: a quantity of something, especially something that can't easily be counted as separate units.

Use amount for things you measure as a mass and cannot count individually, such as an amount of water, money, or time. Use number for separate items you can count, such as a number of coins, people, or cars. A quick test: if you would say "much," use amount; if you would say "many," use number.

They overlap heavily and are often interchangeable. Amount tends to suit uncountable things, such as an amount of sugar, while quantity works for both countable and uncountable and sounds a little more precise or formal, as in a quantity of bricks. In everyday use the distinction is slight.

Use amount of before uncountable nouns: amount of information, amount of water, amount of work. Use number of before plural countable nouns: number of students, number of errors. Saying "amount of people" is a common slip; careful writers say number of people, because people can be counted.

"A large amount of rain fell overnight," or "She spent a small amount of money." Because amount suits uncountable things, it pairs with words like water, time, effort, and information, quantities measured as a whole rather than counted one by one as separate units.