quan·ti·ty (kw?n?t?-t?)n. pl. quan·ti·ties 1. a. A specified or indefinite number or amount: shipped a large quantity of books; sells quantities of paper to publishers.b. A considerable amount or number: sells drugs wholesale and in quantity.c. An exact amount or number: the quantity of material recycled in a month.2. The measurable or countable property or aspect of things: Arithmetic deals with quantity.3. Mathematics Something that serves as the object of an operation.4. a. Linguistics The relative amount of time needed to pronounce a vowel, consonant, or syllable.b. The duration of a syllable in quantitative verse.5. Logic The exact character of a proposition in reference to its universality, singularity, or particularity.[Middle English quantite, from Old French, from Latin quantit?s, quantit?t-, from quantus, how great; see kwo- in Indo-European roots.]American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.quantity (?kw?nt?t?) n, pl -ties1. a. a specified or definite amount, weight, number, etcb. (as modifier): a quantity estimate. 2. the aspect or property of anything that can be measured, weighed, counted, etc3. a large or considerable amount4. (Mathematics) maths an entity having a magnitude that may be denoted by a numerical expression5. (General Physics) physics a specified magnitude or amount; the product of a number and a unit6. (Logic) logic the characteristic of a proposition dependent on whether it is a universal or particular statement, considering all or only part of a class7. (Poetry) prosody the relative duration of a syllable or the vowel in it[C14: from Old French quantité, from Latin quantit?s extent, amount, from quantus how much]Usage: The use of a plural noun after quantity of as in a large quantity of bananas was formerly considered incorrect, but is now acceptableCollins English Dictionary ? Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014quan?ti?ty (?kw?n t? ti) n., pl. -ties. 1. an indefinite or aggregate amount: a quantity of sugar. 2. a specified amount: in the quantities called for. 3. a considerable or great amount: to buy food in quantity. 4. a. the property of magnitude involving comparability with other magnitudes. b. something having magnitude or extent, amount, or the like. c. magnitude, size, volume, area, or length. 5. the amount, degree, etc., in terms of which another can be greater or lesser. 6. the character of a proposition as singular, universal, or particular. 7. the relative duration of a speech sound, esp. a vowel, or a syllable; length. 8. any person, thing, or factor taken into consideration: The nominee was an unknown quantity. [1250?1300;