quantum
/ˈkwɑntəm/
Word Rarity
Uncommon
Frequency: Zipf frequency 4.07 in modern English
18
Scrabble Score
7
Letters
2
Syllables
6
Unique Chars
Meaning
noun
The smallest possible, and therefore indivisible, unit of a given quantity or quantifiable phenomenon.
Countable; Uncountable
noun
The amount of time allocated for a thread to perform its work in a multithreaded environment.
Countable; Uncountable
Example Sentences
- "The reader will perhaps be curious to know the quantum of this present, but we cannot satisfy his curiosity."
- "A certain quantum of power must always exist in the community, in some hands, and under some appellation."
- "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."
- "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."
- "Each man has only a quantum of compassion, he argued, and mine is used up for the day."
- "The dream of flying, according to Strümpell, is the appropriate image used by the psyche to interpret the quantum of stimulus [translating Reizquantum] proceeding from the rise and fall of the lungs when the cutaneous sensation of the thorax has simultaneously sunk into unconsciousness."
Etymology
Origin
- Source language: Latin
Word Breakdown
- Root: quantum, quantus
Regional Pronunciation
- American English: /ˈkwɑntəm/
- British English: /ˈkwɒntəm/