Definitions

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

  • noun An amount obtained as a result of adding numbers.
  • noun An arithmetic problem.
  • noun The whole amount, quantity, or number; an aggregate.
  • noun An amount of money.
  • noun A summary.
  • noun The central idea or point; the gist.
  • transitive verb Mathematics To add.
  • transitive verb To give a summary of; summarize.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun The highest point: the top; summit; completion; full amount; total; maximum.
  • noun The whole; the principal points or thoughts when viewed together; the substance.
  • noun The aggregate of two or more numbers, magnitudes, quantities, or particulars; the result of the process of addition: as, the sum of 5 and 7 is 12; the sum of a and b is a + b.
  • noun Hence The whole number or quantity.
  • noun A quantity of money or currency; an indefinite amount of money.
  • noun An arithmetical problem to be solved, or an example of a rule to be worked out; also, such a problem worked out and the various steps shown.
  • noun In the calculus of finite differences, a function the result of operating upon another function with the sign of summation, and expressing the addition of all successive values of that function in which the variable differs from unit to unit from zero or other constant value to one less than the value indicated; also, a special value of such a function. Thus, the sum of r is
  • noun or, since the summation may commence at any other integral value of x, ϲ r = r / (r—1) + C, where C is an arbitrary constant or periodic function having for its period a submultiple of unity.
  • See -some.
  • An obsolete spelling of some.
  • To combine into a total or sum; add together; ascertain the totality of: often followed by up.
  • To bring or collect into a small compass; condense in a few words: usually with up: as, to sum up evidence; to sum up arguments.
  • In falconry, to have (the feathers) full grown and in full number.
  • Hence To supply with full clothing.
  • In the calculus of finite differences, to find the general expression for the aggregate of: said of the result of adding successive values of a given function in each of which the variable is increased over the last by unity. See sum, n., 7.
  • To make a recapitulation; offer a brief statement of the principal points or substance: usually with up.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • noun The aggregate of two or more numbers, magnitudes, quantities, or particulars; the amount or whole of any number of individuals or particulars added together.
  • noun A quantity of money or currency; any amount, indefinitely.
  • noun The principal points or thoughts when viewed together; the amount; the substance; compendium.
  • noun Height; completion; utmost degree.
  • noun (Arith.) A problem to be solved, or an example to be wrought out.
  • noun as distinguished from arithmetical sum, the aggregate of two or more numbers or quantities taken with regard to their signs, as + or -, according to the rules of addition in algebra; thus, the algebraic sum of -2, 8, and -1 is 5.
  • noun [Obs.] in short; in brief.
  • transitive verb To bring together into one whole; to collect into one amount; to cast up, as a column of figures; to ascertain the totality of; -- usually with up.
  • transitive verb To bring or collect into a small compass; to comprise in a few words; to condense; -- usually with up.
  • transitive verb (Falconry) To have (the feathers) full grown; to furnish with complete, or full-grown, plumage.
  • transitive verb a compendium or abridgment; a recapitulation; a résumé; a summary.

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

  • noun A quantity obtained by addition or aggregation.
  • noun often plural An arithmetic computation, especially one posed to a student as an exercise (not necessarily limited to addition).
  • noun A quantity of money.
  • noun A summary.
  • noun A central idea or point.
  • noun The utmost degree.
  • noun obsolete An old English measure of corn equal to the quarter.
  • verb transitive To add together.
  • verb transitive To give a summary of.
  • noun The basic unit of money in Kyrgyzstan.
  • noun The basic unit of money in Uzbekistan.

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

  • verb determine the sum of

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Middle English summe, from Old French, from Latin summa, from feminine of summus, highest; see uper in Indo-European roots.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

Middle English summe, from Old French, from Latin summa, feminine of summus ("highest").

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From Uzbek.

Support

Help support Wordnik (and make this page ad-free) by adopting the word sum.

Examples

  • Totos ego tredecim annos, quibus functus sum ministerio, sive in sacramentis, sive in aliis sacris celebrandis, exhortationibus aut precibus quae extant in Agendâ nostrâ, _nunquam usus sum_.

    The Scottish Reformation Its Epochs, Episodes, Leaders, and Distinctive Characteristics Alexander F. Mitchell

  • The proportionate postage from this commerce, even at the ratio of the present West Indian postage, to and from Great Britain and her West Indian colonies, would be 110,000_l. _ yearly; but admitting that a sum equal to _one-half_ only of _this sum_ came from the letters sent through the British Post Office, the sum gained on this station yearly would be 55,000_l.

    A General Plan for a Mail Communication by Steam, Between Great Britain and the Eastern and Western Parts of the World James MacQueen

  • Draining me of the last cent of my hard earnings, he would, however, occasionally -- when I brought {252} home an extra large sum -- dole out to me a sixpence or a shilling, with a view, perhaps, of kindling up my gratitude; but this practice had the opposite effect -- it was an admission of _my right to the whole sum_.

    My Bondage and My Freedom Frederick Douglass 1856

  • SELECT sum (p_numofrasname) as p_numofrasname, sum (nvl (p_numof1stareacnt,0)) as p_numof1stareacnt, sum (nvl (p_numof2stareacnt,0)) +sum (nvl (p_numof1stareacnt,0)) as p_numof2stareacnt

    Latest Developer Updates from MySQL AB Minal Bhadle 2009

  • The problem with the ‘vector sum’ formulation is that it ignores several crucial properties of the system: the ‘vectors’ are not independent, the ’sum’ feeds back into the individual vectors, and the operation of summation is non-linear.

    Link Farm & Open Thread #28 2006

  • I remember that at another festivity given by the city to the Emperor a few years later, since all inscription had been exhausted, there were placed above the throne on which he was to sit, these words from Scripture, in gold letters: _Ego sum qui sum_, -- and no one was shocked. "

    The Court of the Empress Josephine Arthur L��on Imbert de Saint-Amand 1867

  • Individual accomplishments are important, but the sum is always greater in value than the individual parts.

    Women Grow Business » Search Results » levin 2010

  • “If the sum is not sufficient,” Dick said stiffly, “why name the sum you consider fair.”

    CHAPTER V 2010

  • Individual accomplishments are important, but the sum is always greater in value than the individual parts.

    Women Grow Business » 16 Characteristics of Greatness: An Entrepreneur Studies Don Yaeger 2009

  • Our current system is a faltering machine whose product is benign genocide -- which I define as the sum total of global deaths that result from the way the system is set up.

    Stephen C. Rose: Further Thoughts on "Our Crisis Is Not Economic" 2009

Comments

Log in or sign up to get involved in the conversation. It's quick and easy.