sum of its parts
English
Alternative forms
Noun
sum of its parts (plural sums of their parts)
- A concept in holism. Related to the idea that the total effectiveness of a group of things each interacting with one another is different or greater than their effectiveness when acting in isolation from one another.
- Together, the ant colony was greater than the sum of its parts.
- 4th c. BC, Aristotle, Metaphysics:
- The whole is different from the sum of its parts.