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Total vs Sum - What's the difference?

total | sum |

Sum is a synonym of total.



In transitive terms the difference between total and sum

is that total is to add up; to calculate the sum of while sum is to give a summary of.

As an adjective total

is entire; relating to the whole of something.

total

English

Alternative forms

* totall (obsolete)

Noun

(en noun)
  • An amount obtained by the addition of smaller amounts.
  • A total of £145 was raised by the bring-and-buy stall.
  • (informal, mathematics) Sum.
  • The total of 4, 5 and 6 is 15.

    See also

    * addition, summation: (augend) + (addend) = (summand) + (summand) = (sum, total) * subtraction: (minuend) ? (subtrahend) = (difference) * multiplication: (multiplier) × (multiplicand) = (factor) × (factor) = (product) * division: (dividend) ÷ (divisor) = (quotient), remainder left over if divisor does not divide dividend

    Synonyms

    * (sum) sum

    Derived terms

    * subtotal

    Adjective

    (en adjective)
  • Entire; relating to the whole of something.
  • :
  • *
  • *:Carried somehow, somewhither, for some reason, on these surging floods, were these travelers,. Even such a boat as the Mount Vernon offered a total deck space so cramped as to leave secrecy or privacy well out of the question, even had the motley and democratic assemblage of passengers been disposed to accord either.
  • *{{quote-magazine, date=2013-08-03, volume=408, issue=8847, magazine=(The Economist)
  • , title= Boundary problems , passage=Economics is a messy discipline: too fluid to be a science, too rigorous to be an art. Perhaps it is fitting that economists’ most-used metric, gross domestic product (GDP), is a tangle too. GDP measures the total value of output in an economic territory. Its apparent simplicity explains why it is scrutinised down to tenths of a percentage point every month.}}
  • ((used as an intensifier)) Complete; absolute.
  • :
  • Synonyms

    * (entire) entire, full, whole * (complete) absolute, complete, utter; see also

    Derived terms

    * total war

    Verb

  • To add up; to calculate the sum of.
  • When we totalled the takings, we always got a different figure.
  • To equal a total of; to amount to.
  • That totals seven times so far.
  • (transitive, US, slang) to demolish; to wreck completely. (from total loss)
  • Honey, I’m OK, but I’ve totaled the car.
  • To amount to; to add up to.
  • It totals nearly a pound.

    Synonyms

    * (add up) add up, sum * (demolish) demolish, trash, wreck

    Anagrams

    * 1000 English basic words ----

    sum

    English

    (wikipedia sum)

    Etymology 1

    (etyl) summe, from (etyl), from (etyl) summa, feminine of .

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • A quantity obtained by addition or aggregation.
  • The sum of 3 and 4 is 7.
  • * Bible, Numbers i. 2
  • Take ye the sum of all the congregation.
  • (often plural) An arithmetic computation, especially one posed to a student as an exercise (not necessarily limited to addition).
  • We're learning about division, and the sums are tricky.
  • * Charles Dickens
  • a large sheet of paper covered with long sums
  • A quantity of money.
  • a tidy sum
    the sum of forty pounds
  • * Bible, Acts xxii. 28
  • With a great sum obtained I this freedom.
  • A summary; the principal points or thoughts when viewed together; the amount; the substance; compendium.
  • This is the sum of all the evidence in the case.
    This is the sum and substance of his objections.
  • A central idea or point.
  • The utmost degree.
  • * Milton
  • Thus have I told thee all my state, and brought / My story to the sum of earthly bliss.
  • (obsolete) An old English measure of corn equal to the quarter.
  • * 1882 , James Edwin Thorold Rogers, A History of Agriculture and Prices in England , Volume 4, page 207:
  • The sum is also used for the quarter, and the strike for the bushel.
    Synonyms
    * (quantity obtained by addition or aggregation) amount, sum total, summation, total, totality * (arithmetic computation) calculation, computation * (quantity of money) amount, quantity of money, sum of money * (summary) See summary * (central idea or point) center/centre, core, essence, gist, heart, heart and soul, inwardness, kernel, marrow, meat, nub, nitty-gritty, pith substance * (utmost degree) See summit * quarter
    Derived terms
    * a tidy sum * checksum * empty sum * nullary sum
    See also
    * addition, summation: (augend) + (addend) = (summand) + (summand) = (sum, total) * subtraction: (minuend) ? (subtrahend) = (difference) * multiplication: (multiplier) × (multiplicand) = (factor) × (factor) = (product) * division: (dividend) ÷ (divisor) = (quotient), remainder left over if divisor does not divide dividend

    Verb

    (summ)
  • To add together.
  • * 2005 , .
  • when you say that stability and change are, it's because you're summing them up together as embraced by it, and taking note of the communion each of them has with being.
  • To give a summary of.
  • Synonyms
    * (to add together) add, add together, add up, sum up, summate, tally, tot, tot up, total, tote up * (to give a summary of) See summarize

    Etymology 2

    From the (etyl) , all of which have the core signification “pure”, used in elliptical reference to historical coins of pure gold.

    Alternative forms

    *

    Noun

  • (en noun)
  • The basic unit of money in Kyrgyzstan.
  • The basic unit of money in Uzbekistan.
  • Anagrams

    * ----