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total

noun, adj, verb — 11 senses

total

noun

UK /ˈtəʊ.tl̩/ · US /ˈtoʊ.tl̩/

Etymology From Middle English total, from Old French total, from Medieval Latin tōtālis, from tōtus (“all, whole, entire”) + -ālis, the former element of unknown origin. Perhaps related to Oscan touto (“community, city-state”), Umbrian 𐌕𐌏𐌕𐌀𐌌 (totam, “tribe”, acc.), Old English þēod (“a nation, people, tribe”), from Proto-Indo-European *tewtéh₂ (“people”). More at English Dutch, English thede.

1

An amount obtained by the addition of smaller amounts.

  • A total of £145 was raised by the bring-and-buy stall.
2

Mathematics, Sciences Informal Sum.

  • The total of 4, 5 and 6 is 15.
Synonyms
sum
Related terms
successor, + =, + +... =, − =, × =, × ×... =, ÷ =, Or sometimes, =, √ =, log(base) =

total

adj

Etymology From Middle English total, from Old French total, from Medieval Latin tōtālis, from tōtus (“all, whole, entire”) + -ālis, the former element of unknown origin. Perhaps related to Oscan touto (“community, city-state”), Umbrian 𐌕𐌏𐌕𐌀𐌌 (totam, “tribe”, acc.), Old English þēod (“a nation, people, tribe”), from Proto-Indo-European *tewtéh₂ (“people”). More at English Dutch, English thede.

1

Entire; relating to the whole of something.

  • The total book is rubbish from start to finish.  The total number of votes cast is 3,270.
  • Carried somehow, somewhither, for some reason, on these surging floods, were these travelers,[…]. Even such a boat as the Mount Vernon offered a total deck space so cramped as to leave secrecy or privacy well out of the question, even had the motley and democratic assemblage of passengers been disposed to accord either.1910, Emerson Hough, chapter II, in The Purchase Price: Or The Cause of Compromise, Indianapolis, Ind.: The Bobbs-Merrill Company, →OCLC:
2 more examples
  • Each member brought a unique musical influence to the total sound.1990, Wayne Jancik, The Billboard Book of One-Hit Wonders, →ISBN, page 145:
  • Economics is a messy discipline: too fluid to be a science, too rigorous to be an art. Perhaps it is fitting that economists’ most-used metric, gross domestic product (GDP), is a tangle too. GDP measures the total value of output in an economic territory. Its apparent simplicity explains why it is scrutinised down to tenths of a percentage point every month.2013 August 3, “Boundary problems”, in The Economist, volume 408, number 8847:
2

Used as an intensifier Complete; absolute.

  • He is a total failure.
  • Air waid! Wights out! Total bwackout!1942 November 21, A Tale of Two Kitties, spoken by Tweety:
3

Mathematics, Sciences Of a function Defined on all possible inputs.

  • The Ackermann function is one of the simplest and earliest examples of a total computable function that is not primitive recursive.
4

Mathematics, Sciences Broadly Left total: Such that for every x in X there is a y in Y with x R y.

Of a relation R on X × Y

5

Mathematics, Sciences Of a partial order ≤ Such that any two elements are comparable, i.e. for all a and b, either a ≤ b, or b ≤ a.

Synonyms
45 termsentire, full, whole, absolute, complete, utter, abject, frightful, arrant, categoric, categorical, consummate, decided, downright, full-blown, full-bore, full-on, mere, outright, out-and-out, perfect, precious, proper, pure, stark, rank, regular, right, root and branch, sheer, straight-out, thorough, thoroughgoing, total, unadulterated, unalloyed, unattenuated, uncompromising, unconditional, unfettered, unmitigated, unqualified, unreserved, unrestricted, wholesale
Antonyms
attenuated, conditional, depleted, half-assed, half-baked, hollowed out, incomplete, limited, mitigated, nontotal, partial, relative, reserved
Related terms
completely, entire, entirety, intact, damned, the dickens, :Category:English intensifiers

total

verb

Etymology From Middle English total, from Old French total, from Medieval Latin tōtālis, from tōtus (“all, whole, entire”) + -ālis, the former element of unknown origin. Perhaps related to Oscan touto (“community, city-state”), Umbrian 𐌕𐌏𐌕𐌀𐌌 (totam, “tribe”, acc.), Old English þēod (“a nation, people, tribe”), from Proto-Indo-European *tewtéh₂ (“people”). More at English Dutch, English thede.

1

To add up; to calculate the sum of.

  • When we totalled the takings, we always got a different figure.
2

To equal a total of; to amount to.

  • That totals seven times so far.
3

US, Slang To demolish; to wreck completely. (from total loss)

  • Honey, I’m OK, but I’ve totaled the car.
  • He acted real funny / He hocked up a rock and / It totaled my car!1972, Frank Zappa, “Billy the Mountain”:
1 more example
  • Smashed up against a car at 3 AM, / The kids dressed up for basketball beat me in my head, / There's bum trash in my hall, and my place is ripped, / I totaled another amp, I'm calling in sick.1988, “Hyperstation”, in Daydream Nation, performed by Sonic Youth:
4

To amount to; to add up to.

  • It totals nearly a pound.
Derived terms
55 termsgrand total, in total, left total, nontotal, posttotal, retotal, right total, subtotal, sum-total, sum total, supertotal, supratotal, total allergy syndrome, total base number, total bases, total body day, total clearance, total conversion, total conversion mod, total depravity, total digestible nutrients, total eclipse, total-etch, total football, total function, total group, total hardness, total internal reflection, total internal reflexion, totalise, totalism, totalitarian, totality, totalization, totalize, totally, totalness, total object, total order, total ordering relation, total package, total quality management, total recall, total return, total return swap, total revenue, total ring of fractions, total running time, total shareholder return, total station, total story time, total synthesis, total up, total war, ultratotal

Entry derived from the Wiktionary, under licence CC BY-SA 4.0 — list of authors.

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