SUM (summed, summing)

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

Irregular inflected forms: summed    , summing   

 Dictionary entry overview: What does sum mean? 

• SUM (noun)
  The noun SUM has 6 senses:

1. a quantity of money

2. a quantity obtained by the addition of a group of numbers

3. the final aggregate

4. the choicest or most essential or most vital part of some idea or experience

5. the whole amount

6. a set containing all and only the members of two or more given sets

  Familiarity information: SUM used as a noun is common.

• SUM (verb)
  The verb SUM has 2 senses:

1. be a summary of

2. determine the sum of

  Familiarity information: SUM used as a verb is rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• SUM (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

A quantity of money

Classified under:

Nouns denoting possession and transfer of possession

Synonyms:

amount; amount of money; sum; sum of money

Context example:

the amount he had in cash was insufficient

Hypernyms ("sum" is a kind of...):

assets (anything of material value or usefulness that is owned by a person or company)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "sum"):

purse (a sum of money spoken of as the contents of a money purse)

purse (a sum of money offered as a prize)

peanuts (an insignificant sum of money; a trifling amount)

payroll; paysheet (the total amount of money paid in wages)

advance; cash advance (an amount paid before it is earned)

coverage; insurance coverage (the total amount and type of insurance carried)

figure (an amount of money expressed numerically)

loss; red; red ink (the amount by which the cost of a business exceeds its revenue)

defalcation (the sum of money that is misappropriated)

deductible ((taxes) an amount that can be deducted (especially for the purposes of calculating income tax))

contribution (an amount of money contributed)

cash surrender value (the amount that the insurance company will pay on a given life insurance policy if the policy is cancelled prior to the death of the insured)

gross; receipts; revenue (the entire amount of income before any deductions are made)

gain (the amount by which the revenue of a business exceeds its cost of operating)

Sense 2

Meaning:

A quantity obtained by the addition of a group of numbers

Classified under:

Nouns denoting cognitive processes and contents

Synonyms:

amount; sum; total

Hypernyms ("sum" is a kind of...):

quantity (the concept that something has a magnitude and can be represented in mathematical expressions by a constant or a variable)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "sum"):

subtotal (the sum of part of a group of numbers)

grand total (the sum of the sums of several groups of numbers)

Derivation:

sum; summate (determine the sum of)

Sense 3

Meaning:

The final aggregate

Classified under:

Nouns denoting groupings of people or objects

Synonyms:

sum; sum total; summation

Context example:

the sum of all our troubles did not equal the misery they suffered

Hypernyms ("sum" is a kind of...):

accumulation; aggregation; assemblage; collection (several things grouped together or considered as a whole)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "sum"):

aggregate; congeries; conglomeration (a sum total of many heterogenous things taken together)

Derivation:

sum; summate (determine the sum of)

summate (form or constitute a cumulative effect)

Sense 4

Meaning:

The choicest or most essential or most vital part of some idea or experience

Classified under:

Nouns denoting cognitive processes and contents

Synonyms:

center; centre; core; essence; gist; heart; heart and soul; inwardness; kernel; marrow; meat; nitty-gritty; nub; pith; substance; sum

Context example:

the nub of the story

Hypernyms ("sum" is a kind of...):

cognitive content; content; mental object (the sum or range of what has been perceived, discovered, or learned)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "sum"):

bare bones ((plural) the most basic facts or elements)

hypostasis ((metaphysics) essential nature or underlying reality)

haecceity; quiddity (the essence that makes something the kind of thing it is and makes it different from any other)

quintessence (the purest and most concentrated essence of something)

stuff (a critically important or characteristic component)

Derivation:

summate (form or constitute a cumulative effect)

Sense 5

Meaning:

The whole amount

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

Synonyms:

aggregate; sum; total; totality

Hypernyms ("sum" is a kind of...):

unit; whole (an assemblage of parts that is regarded as a single entity)

Derivation:

sum; summate (determine the sum of)

Sense 6

Meaning:

A set containing all and only the members of two or more given sets

Classified under:

Nouns denoting groupings of people or objects

Synonyms:

join; sum; union

Context example:

let C be the union of the sets A and B

Hypernyms ("sum" is a kind of...):

set (a group of things of the same kind that belong together and are so used)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "sum"):

direct sum (a union of two disjoint sets in which every element is the sum of an element from each of the disjoint sets)

• SUM (verb)

Present simple: I / you / we / they sum    ... he / she / it sums   
Past simple: summed   
Past participle: summed   
-ing form: summing   

Sense 1

Meaning:

Be a summary of

Classified under:

Verbs of being, having, spatial relations

Synonyms:

sum; sum up; summarise; summarize

Context example:

The abstract summarizes the main ideas in the paper

Hypernyms (to "sum" is one way to...):

say; state; tell (express in words)

Verb group:

resume; sum up; summarise; summarize (give a summary (of))

Sentence frame:

Something ----s something

Derivation:

summation (a concluding summary (as in presenting a case before a law court))

Sense 2

Meaning:

Determine the sum of

Classified under:

Verbs of telling, asking, ordering, singing

Synonyms:

add; add together; add up; sum; sum up; summate; tally; tot; tot up; total; tote up

Context example:

Add all the people in this town to those of the neighboring town

Hypernyms (to "sum" is one way to...):

count; enumerate; number; numerate (determine the number or amount of)

Verb group:

add; add together (make an addition by combining numbers)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Something ----s something

Derivation:

sum (the whole amount)

sum (a quantity obtained by the addition of a group of numbers)

sum (the final aggregate)

summation (the arithmetic operation of summing; calculating the sum of two or more numbers)

 Context examples 

You may send a large wire or check to cover an obligation or receive a large sum from someone who owes you—or both.

(AstrologyZone.com, by Susan Miller)

I think of every little trifle between me and Dora, and feel the truth, that trifles make the sum of life.

(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)

“Name the sum, and I will pay it.”

(The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

In itself, this small sum seemed a fortune.

(Martin Eden, by Jack London)

“The money cannot be found. Surely it is better for you to take the substantial sum which I offer than to ruin this woman’s career, which can profit you in no way?”

(The Return of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

The synergistic action of two drugs, being greater than the sum of the effects of each used alone.

(Chemosensitization, NCI Thesaurus)

You cannot fail to see that twenty thousand pounds, the sum in question, divided equally between the nephew and three nieces of our uncle, will give five thousand to each?

(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)

The sum of the chemical and physical changes occurring in tissue and resulting in biodegradation of any cancer-producing substance or organism.

(Carcinogen Metabolism, NCI Thesaurus)

The family are anxious, and as they are exceedingly wealthy no sum will be spared if we can clear the matter up.

(His Last Bow, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

Three thousand pounds! he could spare so considerable a sum with little inconvenience.

(Sense and Sensibility, by Jane Austen)