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Sum   /səm/   Listen
noun
Sum  n.  
1.
The aggregate of two or more numbers, magnitudes, quantities, or particulars; the amount or whole of any number of individuals or particulars added together; as, the sum of 5 and 7 is 12. "Take ye the sum of all the congregation." Note: Sum is now commonly applied to an aggregate of numbers, and number to an aggregate of persons or things.
2.
A quantity of money or currency; any amount, indefinitely; as, a sum of money; a small sum, or a large sum. "The sum of forty pound." "With a great sum obtained I this freedom."
3.
The principal points or thoughts when viewed together; the amount; the substance; compendium; as, this is the sum of all the evidence in the case; this is the sum and substance of his objections.
4.
Height; completion; utmost degree. "Thus have I told thee all my state, and brought My story to the sum of earthly bliss."
5.
(Arith.) A problem to be solved, or an example to be wrought out. "A sum in arithmetic wherein a flaw discovered at a particular point is ipso facto fatal to the whole." "A large sheet of paper... covered with long sums."
Algebraic sum, as distinguished from arithmetical sum, the aggregate of two or more numbers or quantities taken with regard to their signs, as + or -, according to the rules of addition in algebra; thus, the algebraic sum of -2, 8, and -1 is 5.
In sum, in short; in brief. (Obs.) "In sum, the gospel... prescribes every virtue to our conduct, and forbids every sin."


verb
Sum  v. t.  (past & past part. summed; pres. part. summing)  
1.
To bring together into one whole; to collect into one amount; to cast up, as a column of figures; to ascertain the totality of; usually with up. "The mind doth value every moment, and then the hour doth rather sum up the moments, than divide the day."
2.
To bring or collect into a small compass; to comprise in a few words; to condense; usually with up. ""Go to the ant, thou sluggard," in few words sums up the moral of this fable." "He sums their virtues in himself alone."
3.
(Falconry) To have (the feathers) full grown; to furnish with complete, or full-grown, plumage. "But feathered soon and fledge They summed their pens (wings)."
Summing up, a compendium or abridgment; a recapitulation; a résumé; a summary.
Synonyms: To cast up; collect; comprise; condense; comprehend; compute.





Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48


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"Sum" Quotes from Famous Books



... Let us sum up. The Germans, with years of preparation behind them, made this war a war of machines. England, in that as in other matters, was taken by surprise. But our old and proud nation, which for generations led the machine industry of the world, as soon as it realised the challenge—and ...
— The War on All Fronts: England's Effort - Letters to an American Friend • Mrs. Humphry Ward
... days from this date, the son of the said Robert Burnham, named Ralph, in full life, and in good health of body and mind. And thereupon the said Burnham, provided he recognizes as his said son Ralph the person so produced, agrees to pay to the said Craft, in cash, the sum of six thousand dollars. Witness our hands and seals the day ...
— Burnham Breaker • Homer Greene
... about four years afterward, her father, King Rene, succeeded in obtaining her ransom for the sum of fifty thousand crowns. Rene was not the possessor of so much money himself, but he induced King Louis to pay it, on condition of his conveying to ...
— Margaret of Anjou - Makers of History • Jacob Abbott
... offer a reward for the destruction of tigers (50 rupees), but that an increased reward should be given for the death of every leopard (25 rupees). The tigers will be always killed by Europeans who do not require the inducement of a bonus, and the sum of 25 rupees would incite the natives to trap and destroy a common pest and scourge (the leopard), which seldom or never affords the hunter a chance ...
— Wild Beasts and their Ways • Sir Samuel W. Baker
... this effort has happily been successfully resisted. The carved table in the cottage was much sought after, and was with difficulty retained against an offer of L150. An old window of fifteenth-century workmanship in an old house at Shrewsbury was nearly exploited by an enterprising American for the sum of L250; and some years ago an application was received by the Home Secretary for permission to unearth the body of William Penn, the founder of Pennsylvania, from its grave in the burial-ground of Jordans, near Chalfont St. Giles, and transport it to Philadelphia. ...
— Vanishing England • P. H. Ditchfield


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