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Quantity vs Something - What's the difference?

quantity | something |

As nouns the difference between quantity and something

is that quantity is a fundamental, generic term used when referring to the measurement (count, amount) of a scalar, vector, number of items or to some other way of denominating the value of a collection or group of items while something is an object whose nature is yet to be defined.

As a pronoun something is

an uncertain or unspecified thing; one thing.

As an adjective something is

having a characteristic that the speaker cannot specify.

As an adverb something is

(degree) somewhat; to a degree.

As a verb something is

applied to an action whose name is forgotten by, unknown or unimportant to the user, eg from words of a song.

quantity

Noun

(quantities)
  • A fundamental, generic term used when referring to the measurement (count, amount) of a scalar, vector, number of items or to some other way of denominating the value of a collection or group of items.
  • You have to choose between quantity and quality.
  • An indefinite amount of something.
  • Some soap making oils are best as base oils, used in a larger quantity''' in the soap, while other oils are best added in a small '''quantity .
    Olive oil can be used practically in any quantity .
  • A specific measured amount.
  • This bag would normally costs $497.50 for a quantity of 250, at a price of $1.99 per piece.
    Generally it should not be used in a quantity larger than 15 percent.
  • A considerable measure or amount.
  • The Boeing P-26A was the first all-metal monoplane fighter produced in quantity for the U.S. Army Air Corps.
  • (metrology) Property of a phenomenon, body, or substance, where the property has a magnitude that can be expressed as number and a reference.
  • (mathematics) Indicates that the entire preceding expression is henceforth considered a single object.
  • x plus ''y'' quantity squared equals ''x'' squared plus ''2xy'' plus ''y'' squared .
  • * 2006 , Jerome E. Kaufmann and Karen Schwitters, Elementary and Intermediate Algebra: A Combined Approach , p 89
  • For problems 58-67, translate each word phrase into an algebraic expression.
    (...)
    65. x plus 9, the quantity squared
  • * 2005 , R. Mark Sirkin, Statistics For The Social Sciences , p137
  • The second, (\sum x)^2, read "summation of x, quantity squared," tells us to first add up all the xs to get \sum x and then square \sum x to get (\sum x)^2.
  • * 1985 , Serge Lang, Math!: Encounters with High School Students , p54
  • ANN. ra quantity cubed.
    SERGE LANG. That's right, (ra)^3.

    Usage notes

    * In mathematics, used to unambiguously orate mathematical equations; it is extremely rare in print, since there is no need for it there.

    Synonyms

    * Qty

    See also

    * measure * unit

    something

    English

    Pronoun

    (English Pronouns)
  • An uncertain or unspecified thing; one thing.
  • * {{quote-magazine, date=2013-06-28, author=(Joris Luyendijk)
  • , volume=189, issue=3, page=21, magazine=(The Guardian Weekly) , title= Our banks are out of control , passage=Seeing the British establishment struggle with the financial sector is like watching an alcoholic who still resists the idea that something drastic needs to happen for him to turn his life around.}}
  • (colloquial, of someone or something) A quality to a moderate degree.
  • *
  • , title=(The Celebrity), chapter=5 , passage=Then came a maid with hand-bag and shawls, and after her a tall young lady. She stood for a moment holding her skirt above the grimy steps, with something of the stately pose which Richter has given his Queen Louise on the stairway, and the light of the reflector fell full upon her.}}
  • (colloquial, of a person) A talent or quality that is difficult to specify.
  • (colloquial, often with really) Somebody or something who is superlative in some way.
  • Synonyms

    * (unspecified thing) sth (especially in dictionaries)

    Derived terms

    * somethingth

    Adjective

    (-)
  • Having a characteristic that the speaker cannot specify.
  • Adverb

    (-)
  • (degree) Somewhat; to a degree.
  • *{{quote-book, year=1922, author=(Ben Travers)
  • , chapter=5, title= A Cuckoo in the Nest , passage=The most rapid and most seductive transition in all human nature is that which attends the palliation of a ravenous appetite. There is something humiliating about it.}}
  • (degree, colloquial) To a high degree.
  • *
  • *
  • *
  • Derived terms

    (to a high degree) * something awful * something bad * something fierce * something good * something terrible

    Statistics

    *

    Verb

    (en verb)
  • Applied to an action whose name is forgotten by, unknown or unimportant to the user, e.g. from words of a song.
  • * 1890, [http://books.google.com/books?ie=UTF-8&hl=en&vid=ISBN0140439234&id=IOZeJi7U4eEC&pg=PA96&lpg=PA96&sig=LW2P-uKmoZabe70ZKnIHIMQLXlw]
  • He didn’t apply for it for a long time, and then there was a hitch about it, and it was somethinged —vetoed, I believe she said.
  • * 2003, George Angel, “Allegoady,” in Juncture, Lara Stapleton and Veronica Gonzalez edd. [http://books.google.com/books?ie=UTF-8&hl=en&vid=ISBN1887128913&id=qB-D32yV1VAC&pg=PA161&lpg=PA161&sig=9AYyYLA-MQqTgAbptreoe3VyOzQ]
  • She hovers over the something somethinging and awkwardly lowers her bulk.
  • * 2005, Floyd Skloot, A World of Light [http://books.google.com/books?ie=UTF-8&hl=en&vid=ISBN0803243189&id=TEgRGe6FiTkC&pg=PA40&lpg=PA40&sig=zEj4BPQ0eEFkj6LdOI8eRJlZrzE]
  • Oh how we somethinged on the hmmm hmm we were wed. Dear, was I ever on the stage?”

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • An object whose nature is yet to be defined.
  • * {{quote-magazine, date=2013-06-08, volume=407, issue=8839, page=52, magazine=(The Economist)
  • , title= The new masters and commanders , passage=From the ground, Colombo’s port does not look like much.
  • An object whose name is forgotten by, unknown or unimportant to the user, e.g., from words of a song. Also used to refer to an object earlier indefinitely referred to as 'something' (pronoun sense).
  • * 1999, Nicholas Clapp, The Road to Ubar [http://books.google.com/books?ie=UTF-8&hl=en&vid=ISBN0395957869&id=3ikdzDKkQ04C&pg=PA104&lpg=PA104&sig=UNimtwdgeC_w_wqGXfa4LsCDik8]
  • What was the something' the pilot saw, the ' something worth killing for?
  • * 2004, Theron Q Dumont, The Master Mind [http://books.google.com/books?ie=UTF-8&hl=en&vid=ISBN0766185435&id=-n_jW7BVfawC&pg=PA26&lpg=PA26&sig=ou-CrIyWbKyZQ0s3q0uaJTiHdsI]
  • Moreover, in all of our experience with these sense impressions, we never lose sight of the fact that they are but incidental facts of our mental existence, and that there is a Something' Within which is really the Subject of these sense reports—a ' Something to which these reports are presented, and which receives them.
  • * 2004, Ira Levin, The Stepford Wives [http://books.google.com/books?ie=UTF-8&hl=en&vid=ISBN0060738197&id=rKeKLf7LeXAC&pg=PA151&lpg=PA151&sig=uAeyLuj-HYk1dLAme_rokCWQITc]
  • She wiped something with a cloth, wiped at the wall shelf, and put the something on it, clinking glass.
    200 English basic words English autological terms English compound determinatives English degree adverbs English indefinite pronouns English refractory feminine rhymes English third person pronouns 1000 English basic words