ENGLISH
REFERENCE

quantify

v.
B2 Upper Intermediate US //ˈkwɑntɪˌfaɪ// UK //kwˈɒntɪfˌaɪ// quan·ti·fy

v. to measure something or describe it using numbers. You use this when you want to be exact about how much or how many of something there is.

v. to express or measure the quantity of something; to represent a concept or quality as a numerical value. Often used in research contexts to distinguish between measurable data and descriptive observations.


SIMPLE

It is difficult to quantify the benefits of a good night's sleep.

CONTEXTUAL

The study attempts to quantify the impact of social media usage on the attention spans of young children.

COMPLEX

While the economic costs of the disaster are easy to quantify, the psychological toll on the local community remains much harder to measure with precision.

Synonyms
Origin

From Medieval Latin quantifico (introduced by Sir William Hamilton in logic).

Usage

The verb is transitive and requires a direct object. It is frequently contrasted with 'qualify' in academic and scientific writing.

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