quantity
B1Pronunciation
UK
- /kwˈɒntɪti/
US
- /ˈkwɑntəti/
Description
- amount
- number
- total
- measure
- how much
Think about baking cookies. You need the right amount of flour, sugar, and chocolate chips to make the recipe work. Quantity refers to how much of something there is. It can be used for things you can count, like apples, and things you cannot easily count one by one, like water or rice. It is about not just having something, but knowing how much of it there is. You might ask, "What quantity of milk do we need?" or say, "The quantity of rain this year was unusually high." It can also mean a certain amount, such as "a large quantity" or "a small quantity."
The word quantity describes the amount or number of something. It is about measuring how much of a thing exists, and it can be used in many situations. You might see it in grocery shopping ("What quantity of oranges should I buy?"), in scientific work ("We measured the quantity of oxygen in the air."), or in farming and trade ("A large quantity of wheat was sold at the market.").
Quantity is not limited to things you can count one by one. You can talk about the quantity of water in a bottle, the quantity of food stored for winter, or the quantity of time spent on a project. In each case, the idea is the same: how much there is.
It often points to a specific amount being considered. "A large quantity" suggests a lot of something, while "a limited quantity" means there is not much available. In mathematics and science, quantity can also mean a measurable property such as mass, length, or volume. In economics, it often appears in discussions of supply and demand.
Think of a baker carefully measuring ingredients. Each ingredient has a specific quantity. Or imagine a farmer looking at the total harvest. That total shows the quantity of crops produced. So whenever you need to express how much of something there is, quantity is the right word.
Examples
- 1
Cooking
Add a small quantity of salt at the end.
- 2
Storage
The warehouse stores large quantities of bottled water.
- 3
Planning
The exact quantity you need will depend on how many people you're cooking for.
- 4
Data collection
The app collects a huge quantity of user data every day.
- 5
Quality contrast
In this course, quality matters more than quantity.
- 6
Bulk buying
If you buy in quantity, each box costs less.
Phrase
in quantity
in large amounts at one time
Forms and spellings
2 forms open this card.
Main spelling
- quantitynoun
Forms
- quantitiespluralnoun