quantity

plural quantities · abbreviation qty

1. countableuncountableA fundamental, generic term used when referring to the measurement (count, amount) of a scalar, vector, number of items or to some other way of denominating the value of a collection or group of items.

   You have to choose between quantity and quality.

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   A few comments on the words used in the title of the book and on some related expressions are necessary. A "quantity" is here understood in the sense of "a thing that has the property of being measurable in dimensions, amounts, etc., or in extensions of these which can be expressed in numbers and symbols" (Webster's New World Dictionary of [the American Language], Third Edition, 1988), or of "something having magnitude, or size, extent, amount, and the like" (Random House Webster's College Dictionary, 1991; The New Hamlyn Encyclopaedic World Dictionary, 1988). It is interesting that up to the 1950s a "quantity" was defined as what we now describe as "magnitude" (e.g., the unabridged Webster's New International Dictionary, 1948, gives examples of a sphere's surface being a quantity, its area a magnitude, or a yardstick being a quantity, its length a magnitude). This practice is now obsolete and at present length is a quantity, its numerical value its magnitude.

   1999, Arnošt Kotyk, “Introduction”, in Quantities, Symbols, Units, and Abbreviations in the Life Sciences: A Guide for Authors and Editors, Humana Press, →ISBN

2. countableuncountableAn indefinite amount of something.

   Olive oil can be used practically in any quantity.

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   Some soap making oils are best as base oils, used in a larger quantity in the soap, while other oils are best added in a small quantity.

3. countableuncountableA specific measured amount.

   Generally it should not be used in a quantity larger than 15 percent.

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   This bag would normally cost $497.50 for a quantity of 250, at a price of $1.99 per piece.

4. countableuncountableA considerable measure or amount.

   The Boeing P-26A was the first all-metal monoplane fighter produced in quantity for the U.S. Army Air Corps.

5. countableuncountablemetrologyProperty of a phenomenon, body, or substance, where the property has a magnitude that can be expressed as number and a reference.
6. countableuncountablemathematicsIndicates that the entire preceding expression is henceforth considered a single object.

   x plus y quantity squared equals x squared plus 2xy plus y squared.

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   For problems 58-67, translate each word phrase into an algebraic expression. […] 65. x plus 9, the quantity squared

   2006, Jerome E. Kaufmann, Karen Schwitters, Elementary and Intermediate Algebra: A Combined Approach, page 89

   The second, (#92;sumx)², read "summation of x, quantity squared," tells us to first add up all the xs to get #92;sumx and then square #92;sumx to get (#92;sumx)².

   2005, R. Mark Sirkin, Statistics For The Social Sciences, page 137

   ANN. ra quantity cubed. SERGE LANG. That's right, (ra)³.

   1985, Serge Lang, Math!: Encounters with High School Students, page 54

7. countableuncountablehuman sciencesLength of sounds.