Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun Logic An operator that limits the variables of a proposition, as some or all.
  • noun Linguistics A word or other constituent that expresses a quantity or contrast in quantity, as some, all, or many.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun grammar A word, such as all or many, that expresses a quantity
  • noun logic The operator, represented by either of the symbols (universal quantifier) or (existential quantifier), used in predicate calculus to indicate the degree that predicate is true for a specified set.
  • noun computing A symbol or symbols in a regular expression indicating the number of characters to be matched.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun (logic) a word (such as `some' or `all' or `no') that binds the variables in a logical proposition
  • noun (grammar) a word that expresses a quantity (as `fifteen' or `many')

Etymologies

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

quantify +‎ -er

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Examples

  • ˜LF™ (intimating ˜logical form™); and the hypothesized transformation ” called quantifier raising because it targeted the kinds of expressions that indicate

    Logical Form Pietroski, Paul 2009

  • They are a “quantifier” and a “bound variable,” a different logical relationship.

    Singular “they” and the many reasons why it’s correct « Motivated Grammar 2009

  • Of course typical is a relative term, but I know that it is more accurate than using the quantifier “total” before bullshit.

    Matthew Yglesias » Journalists, Bloggers, and Status Anxiety 2009

  • They are a “quantifier” and a “bound variable,” a different logical relationship.

    2009 September « Motivated Grammar 2009

  • "Some" is an existential quantifier, and so a single computer that acts intelligently without intervention confirms my proposition.

    Aiguy's Computer 2008

  • Summary: X times bigger is a completely valid phrase, so long as X is a number/quantifier.

    Five times dumber « Motivated Grammar 2008

  • You are trying to negate my proposition ( "No lawlike mechanism can be an intelligent agent") and so a single counter example does nothing for you, because "no" is a universal quantifier.

    Aiguy's Computer 2008

  • Summary: X times bigger is a completely valid phrase, so long as X is a number/quantifier.

    2008 November « Motivated Grammar 2008

  • "Some" is an existential quantifier, and so a single computer that acts intelligently without intervention confirms my proposition.

    Aiguy's Computer 2008

  • You are trying to negate my proposition ( "No lawlike mechanism can be an intelligent agent") and so a single counter example does nothing for you, because "no" is a universal quantifier.

    Aiguy's Computer 2008

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