English
amount
Amount comes from Old French amonter ‘to amount to’, from amont ‘uphill’, from Latin ad montem ‘to the mountain’, ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *men- ‘to stand out’.
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*men-‘to stand out, project’reconstructed
- Proto-Indo-European, derivedc. 4500–2500 BCE*móntisreconstructed
- Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*montsreconstructed
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEmōns‘mountain’
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEad montem‘to the mountain’
- Old Frenchc. 842–1400a mont‘toward a mountain or heap’
- Old French, derivedc. 842–1400amont‘uphill, upward’
- Old French, derivedc. 842–1400amonter‘to amount to’
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500amounten‘to mount up to’
- Englishearliest quotation 1590amount
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor
Lineage
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*men-‘to stand out, project’reconstructed
- Proto-Indo-European, derivedc. 4500–2500 BCE*móntisreconstructed
- Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*montsreconstructed
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEmōns‘mountain’
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEad montem‘to the mountain’
- Old Frenchc. 842–1400a mont‘toward a mountain or heap’
- Old French, derivedc. 842–1400amont‘uphill, upward’
- Old French, derivedc. 842–1400amonter‘to amount to’
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500amounten‘to mount up to’
- Englishearliest quotation 1590amount
Earliest quotation: 1590, Edmund Spenser, Book I, Canto X: “So up he rose, and thence amounted straight.”
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *men- ‘to think, mind’
music, mind, money, remain, museum, comment, mental, mention, auto, min, permanent, mouth, monster, monitor, mountain, demonstration, monetary, maya, mentor, monk, mint, muse, dementia, menace, ming, prominence, mas, mandarin, monument, imminent, monastery, mania, muster, amnesty, eminent, mosaic, manic, summon, mantra, eminence, 121 more
through Proto-Italic *monts
through Latin mōns ‘mountain, mount’
monte, mons, montane, surmount, 11 more
through Old French mont ‘mountain’
Today it means
noun The total, aggregate or sum of material (not applicable to discrete numbers or units or items in standard English).
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *men- / amount