You searched for: “sums
sum (s) (noun), sums (pl)
1. The aggregate of two or more numbers, magnitudes, quantities, or particulars as determined by or as if by the mathematical process of addition: "The sum of 5 and 11 is 16."
2. A particular aggregate or total; especially, with reference to money: "The expenses for the trip came to a reasonable sum."
3. An indefinite amount or quantity; especially, of money: "They were willing to lend small sums for emergencies."
4. A series of numbers or quantities to be added up.
5. The full amount, or the whole.
6. The substance, or gist, of a matter, comprehensively or broadly viewed or expressed: "He submitted the sum of his opinions based on his analysis of the situation."
7. A concise or brief form.
8. Etymology: from about 1290, "quantity or amount of money", from Anglo-French and Old French summe; from Latin summa, "total number, whole, essence, gist". It is the noun use of summus, "highest".

The sense development from "highest" to "total number" is probably via the Roman custom of adding up a stack of figures from the bottom and writing the sum at the top, rather than at the bottom as we do now.

This entry is located in the following units: sum-, -sum- (page 1) super-, supra-, sur- (page 2)