Library / English Dictionary

SUM

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

Irregular inflected forms: summed    , summing   

 I. (noun) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

The whole amount

Synonyms:

aggregate; sum; total; totality

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

Hypernyms ("sum" is a kind of...):

unit; whole (an assemblage of parts that is regarded as a single entity)

Derivation:

sum; summate (determine the sum of)

Sense 2

Meaning:

A quantity obtained by the addition of a group of numbers

Synonyms:

amount; sum; total

Classified under:

Nouns denoting cognitive processes and contents

Hypernyms ("sum" is a kind of...):

quantity (the concept that something has a magnitude and can be represented in mathematical expressions by a constant or a variable)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "sum"):

grand total (the sum of the sums of several groups of numbers)

subtotal (the sum of part of a group of numbers)

Derivation:

sum; summate (determine the sum of)

Sense 3

Meaning:

The choicest or most essential or most vital part of some idea or experience

Example:

the nub of the story

Synonyms:

center; centre; core; essence; gist; heart; heart and soul; inwardness; kernel; marrow; meat; nitty-gritty; nub; pith; substance; sum

Classified under:

Nouns denoting cognitive processes and contents

Hypernyms ("sum" is a kind of...):

cognitive content; content; mental object (the sum or range of what has been perceived, discovered, or learned)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "sum"):

bare bones ((plural) the most basic facts or elements)

hypostasis ((metaphysics) essential nature or underlying reality)

haecceity; quiddity (the essence that makes something the kind of thing it is and makes it different from any other)

quintessence (the purest and most concentrated essence of something)

stuff (a critically important or characteristic component)

Derivation:

summate (form or constitute a cumulative effect)

Sense 4

Meaning:

The final aggregate

Example:

the sum of all our troubles did not equal the misery they suffered

Synonyms:

sum; sum total; summation

Classified under:

Nouns denoting groupings of people or objects

Hypernyms ("sum" is a kind of...):

accumulation; aggregation; assemblage; collection (several things grouped together or considered as a whole)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "sum"):

aggregate; congeries; conglomeration (a sum total of many heterogenous things taken together)

Derivation:

sum; summate (determine the sum of)

summate (form or constitute a cumulative effect)

Sense 5

Meaning:

A set containing all and only the members of two or more given sets

Example:

let C be the union of the sets A and B

Synonyms:

join; sum; union

Classified under:

Nouns denoting groupings of people or objects

Hypernyms ("sum" is a kind of...):

set (a group of things of the same kind that belong together and are so used)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "sum"):

direct sum (a union of two disjoint sets in which every element is the sum of an element from each of the disjoint sets)

Sense 6

Meaning:

A quantity of money

Example:

the amount he had in cash was insufficient

Synonyms:

amount; amount of money; sum; sum of money

Classified under:

Nouns denoting possession and transfer of possession

Hypernyms ("sum" is a kind of...):

assets (anything of material value or usefulness that is owned by a person or company)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "sum"):

purse (a sum of money spoken of as the contents of a money purse)

purse (a sum of money offered as a prize)

peanuts (an insignificant sum of money; a trifling amount)

payroll; paysheet (the total amount of money paid in wages)

advance; cash advance (an amount paid before it is earned)

coverage; insurance coverage (the total amount and type of insurance carried)

figure (an amount of money expressed numerically)

loss; red; red ink (the amount by which the cost of a business exceeds its revenue)

defalcation (the sum of money that is misappropriated)

deductible ((taxes) an amount that can be deducted (especially for the purposes of calculating income tax))

contribution (an amount of money contributed)

cash surrender value (the amount that the insurance company will pay on a given life insurance policy if the policy is cancelled prior to the death of the insured)

gross; receipts; revenue (the entire amount of income before any deductions are made)

gain (the amount by which the revenue of a business exceeds its cost of operating)

 II. (verb) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

Determine the sum of

Example:

Add all the people in this town to those of the neighboring town

Synonyms:

add; add together; add up; sum; sum up; summate; tally; tot; tot up; total; tote up

Classified under:

Verbs of telling, asking, ordering, singing

Hypernyms (to "sum" is one way to...):

count; enumerate; number; numerate (determine the number or amount of)

Verb group:

add; add together (make an addition by combining numbers)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Something ----s something

Derivation:

sum (the whole amount)

sum (a quantity obtained by the addition of a group of numbers)

sum (the final aggregate)

summation (the arithmetic operation of summing; calculating the sum of two or more numbers)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Be a summary of

Example:

The abstract summarizes the main ideas in the paper

Synonyms:

sum; sum up; summarise; summarize

Classified under:

Verbs of being, having, spatial relations

Hypernyms (to "sum" is one way to...):

say; state; tell (express in words)

Verb group:

resume; sum up; summarise; summarize (give a summary (of))

Sentence frame:

Something ----s something

Derivation:

summation (a concluding summary (as in presenting a case before a law court))

Credits

 Context examples: 

Van Helsing summed it all up as he said, with our boy on his knee:—We want no proofs; we ask none to believe us!

(Dracula, by Bram Stoker)

In the ebb of their fortunes, this sum was their total capital; yet they laid it unhesitatingly against Matthewson’s six hundred.

(The Call of the Wild, by Jack London)

A small sum could not do all this.

(Pride and Prejudice, by Jane Austen)

Can I not bend myself then to take this sorry sum which is offered me for that which has cost me the labors of a life.

(The White Company, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

The most recently recorded sum of diameters minus the lowest sum of diameters previously recorded divided by the lowest sum of diameters previously recorded, multiplied by 100.

(Percent Change From Nadir in Sum of Diameter, NCI Thesaurus)

The most recently recorded sum of longest diameters minus the lowest sum of longest diameters previously recorded divided by the lowest sum of longest diameters previously recorded, multiplied by 100.

(Percent Change From Nadir in Sum of Longest Diameter, NCI Thesaurus)

Even you, used as you are to great sums, would hardly believe that so much could be given to a young person like Jane.

(Emma, by Jane Austen)

I provided myself with a sum of money, together with a few jewels which had belonged to my mother, and departed.

(Frankenstein, by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley)

They have the crown down at Hurlstone—though they had some legal bother and a considerable sum to pay before they were allowed to retain it.

(The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

This was the sum of my speech, delivered with great improprieties and hesitation.

(Gulliver's Travels into several remote nations of the world, by Jonathan Swift)