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amount

/əˈmaʊnt//əˈmaʊnt/·noun (also verb)
how much of something there is — a quantity of an uncountable mass
Fig. 1 — From the lip of the spoon a fine pale stream pours without a break, and on the saucer below a single smooth mound grows — grain settling on grain so closely that no one grain can be told from the next.
01Definition

An amount is how much there is of something you measure rather than count — a mass or quantity treated as a single whole: the amount of water, sand, time, or money. Because the thing is uncountable, you weigh or gauge it instead of tallying separate units, and it pairs with 'much' and 'less' (a large amount, a small amount). It comes from Old French amonter, 'to mount up'. Set it against number, which is for separate, countable things. As a verb, to amount to is to add up to a total or be equivalent to.

02In use
  • iThe amount of evidence required to substantiate a claim of this kind is enormous.
  • iiThe amount of rainfall this year was well below average, and the reservoirs began to diminish.
  • iiiHer savings amounted to far less than she had hoped.
03Collocations
  • a large amount of
  • a small amount of
  • the total amount
  • a fair amount of
  • amount to

Family amounting (adjective)

04Relations

=quantity, volume, extent, sum, measure

05Compared
PairThe difference
amount vs numberamount + uncountable mass (less water); number + countable plural (fewer bottles).
06TOEFL & IELTS

A grammar favourite for TOEFL/IELTS. Amount goes with uncountable (mass) nouns and takes much/less: 'the amount of work', 'a small amount of water'. Using it with countable nouns ('the amount of people') is a classic error — there you want number ('the number of people'). The same split governs less vs fewer. Knowing it cleanly is easy marks in Writing and a frequent trap in error-identification questions.

07Asked
What does 'amount to' mean?
Three related things. Add up to a total: 'costs amounting to £2 million'. Be equivalent to: 'his silence amounts to a refusal'. And, of people, to achieve: 'they said he would never amount to much'. All three keep the Old French picture inside the verb — amonter, to mount up toward something.
Is 'amounts' correct — can amount be plural?
Yes — amount itself is a countable noun even though it measures uncountable stuff: 'large amounts of money', 'small amounts of data' are perfectly standard. The layering trips learners: money can't be counted, but the amounts of it can. Use the plural when you mean several separate quantities.
Can you say 'amount of time' and 'amount of money'?
Yes — both are textbook uses, because time and money are mass nouns even though hours and dollars are countable. That is the whole trick of the amount/number split: name the units and you count them ('the number of hours'); name the substance and you measure it ('the amount of time').
What does 'no amount of X' mean?
It is the emphatic negative: 'no amount of money could fix it' means that even the largest imaginable quantity would fail. The structure only works with mass nouns (no amount of persuasion, pressure, polish) and it always signals futility — whatever follows was tried, or would be, in vain.
Where does amount come from?
From Old French amonter, 'to mount up', built on Latin ad montem — literally 'to the mountain'. The scene above replays the etymology in sugar: a poured stream settling into a single rising mound, read only by its size. An amount is whatever has mounted up.
Is it 'amount of people' or 'number of people'?
Number — people are counted, not measured, so 'the amount of people' is the classic error. The full rule, the less/fewer companion trap and both animated scenes are on the amount vs number page linked in the 'Compared' list above.