quantum

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See also: Quantum, quàntum, and quântum

English

Etymology

From Late Latin quantum, noun use of neuter form of Latin quantus (“how much”).

Pronunciation

  • Lua error in Module:parameters at line 290: Parameter 1 should be a valid language or etymology language code; the value "RP" is not valid. See WT:LOL and WT:LOL/E. IPA(key): /ˈkwɒntəm/
  • Lua error in Module:parameters at line 290: Parameter 1 should be a valid language or etymology language code; the value "GA" is not valid. See WT:LOL and WT:LOL/E. IPA(key): /ˈkwɑntəm/
    • Lua error in Module:parameters at line 290: Parameter 1 should be a valid language or etymology language code; the value "US" is not valid. See WT:LOL and WT:LOL/E. IPA(key): (enunciated) [ˈkwɑn.tʰəm], (common flapped realization) [ˈkwɑɾ̃əm]
    • Audio (US):(file)
      (enunciated)
    • Audio (US):(file)
      (flapped)

Note: in General American, the enunciated form is more common when the word is used on its own; but in connected speech, when it is used as a modifier (as in quantum mechanics), the flapped form is more common.

Noun

quantum (plural quanta)

  1. (now chiefly South Asia) The total amount of something; quantity. [from 17th c.]
    • (Can we date this quote by Burke and provide title, author’s full name, and other details?)
      without authenticating […] the quantum of the charges
    • 1749, Henry Fielding, Tom Jones, Folio Society 1973, p. 416:
      The reader will perhaps be curious to know the quantum of this present, but we cannot satisfy his curiosity.
    • 1997, Kiran Nagarkar, Cuckold, HarperCollins 2013, p. 375:
      Otherwise I will have given the lie to my maxim that whether you work eight or twenty hours, the quantum of work that gets done on a normal day is the same.
    • 2008, The Times of India, 21 May 2008, [1]:
      The Congress's core ministerial panel on Friday gave its green signal to raising motor fuel prices but the quantum of increase emerged as a hitch.
  2. The amount or quantity observably present, or available. [from 18th c.]
    • 1979, John Le Carré, Smiley's People, Folio Society 2010, p. 96:
      Each man has only a quantum of compassion, he argued, and mine is used up for the day.
    • 1999, Joyce Crick, translating Sigmund Freud, The Interpretation of Dreams, Oxford 2008, p. 34:
      The dream of flying, according to Strümpell, is the appropriate image used by the psyche to interpret the quantum of stimulus [translating Lua error in Module:parameters at line 290: Parameter 1 should be a valid language or etymology language code; the value "Reizquantum" is not valid. See WT:LOL and WT:LOL/E.] proceeding from the rise and fall of the lungs when the cutaneous sensation of the thorax has simultaneously sunk into unconsciousness.
  3. (physics) The smallest possible, and therefore indivisible, unit of a given quantity or quantifiable phenomenon. [from 20th c.]
    • 2002, David C Cassidy et al., Understanding Physics, Birkhauser 2002, p. 602:
      The quantum of light energy was later called a photon.
  4. (mathematics) A definite portion of a manifoldness, limited by a mark or by a boundary.
    (Can we find and add a quotation of William Kingdon Clifford to this entry?)
  5. (law) A brief document provided by the judge, elaborating on a sentencing decision.
  6. (computing) The amount of time allocated for a thread to perform its work in a multithreaded environment.

Translations

Adjective

quantum (not comparable)

  1. Of a change, sudden or discrete, without intermediate stages.
  2. (informal) Of a change, significant.
  3. (physics) Involving quanta, quantum mechanics or other aspects of quantum physics.
    • 2012 January, Michael Riordan, “Tackling Infinity”, in American Scientist‎[2], volume 100, number 1, page 86:
      Some of the most beautiful and thus appealing physical theories, including quantum electrodynamics and quantum gravity, have been dogged for decades by infinities that erupt when theorists try to prod their calculations into new domains. Getting rid of these nagging infinities has probably occupied far more effort than was spent in originating the theories.
  4. (computing theory) Relating to a quantum computer.

Derived terms

Translations

Further reading

French

Etymology

From English quantum.

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /kɑ̃.tɔm/, /kwɑ̃.tɔm/

Noun

quantum m (plural quanta)

  1. (physics) quantum

Further reading

Italian

Noun

quantum m (plural quanta)

  1. quantum

Synonyms

Latin

Pronunciation

Adjective

(deprecated template usage) quantum

  1. nominative neuter singular of quantus
  2. accusative masculine singular of quantus
  3. accusative neuter singular of quantus
  4. vocative neuter singular of quantus

Determiner

quantum (with genitive)

  1. as much of […] as
  2. how high, how dear, as dear as

Descendants

  • French: quant
  • Italian: quanto
  • Spanish: cuanto

References

  • “quantum”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  • “quantum”, in Charlton T. Lewis (1891) An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
  • quantum in Charles du Fresne du Cange’s Glossarium Mediæ et Infimæ Latinitatis (augmented edition with additions by D. P. Carpenterius, Adelungius and others, edited by Léopold Favre, 1883–1887)
  • quantum in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.
  • Carl Meißner, Henry William Auden (1894) Latin Phrase-Book‎[3], London: Macmillan and Co.
    • (ambiguous) as far as I can guess: quantum ego coniectura assequor, auguror
    • (ambiguous) as far as I know: quantum scio
    • (ambiguous) I am not dissatisfied with my progress: non me paenitet, quantum profecerim
    • (ambiguous) to take only enough food to support life: tantum cibi et potionis adhibere quantum satis est

Novial

Adverb

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  1. (interrogative) how much
    Quantum lu kosta?
    How much does it cost?

Portuguese

Alternative forms

Noun

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  1. (physics) quantum (indivisible unit of a given quantity)
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