What does "total" mean?

1. (the sum) the final amount you get when you add smaller amounts together. 2. (complete or absolute) complete and including everything; used to emphasize how much of something there is. 3. (to add up to) to reach a specific number when added together. 4. (to calculate the sum) to add several numbers together to find the final amount. 5. (to wreck completely) to damage a vehicle so badly that it cannot be repaired. 6. (mathematical ordering) describing a system where every single item can be compared to another.

total

n. · adj. · v.

US //ˈtoʊtəɫ// UK //tˈəʊtəl// to·tal

1 the sum (n.)
A2 Elementary Math

the final amount you get when you add smaller amounts together.

the aggregate amount resulting from the addition of several smaller quantities.

Example

The total for the groceries came to forty dollars.

Example

After calculating the overhead costs and the initial investment, the total exceeded our original budget by nearly ten percent.
- part
- fraction
2 complete or absolute (adj.)
B1 Intermediate

complete and including everything; used to emphasize how much of something there is.

complete, absolute, or unqualified in extent or degree.

Example

The party was a total disaster because nobody showed up.

Example

The witness provided a total rejection of the prosecution's claims, insisting that he had been elsewhere during the incident.
- partial
- limited

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3 to add up to (v.)
B1 Intermediate

to reach a specific number when added together.

to amount to a specific sum or number. Often used as a linking verb.

Example

The donations from the bake sale total over five hundred dollars.

Example

The losses incurred during the fiscal year total more than the company's entire liquid assets.
- amount to
- equal
4 to calculate the sum (v.)
B2 Upper Intermediate Math

to add several numbers together to find the final amount.

to determine the sum of a set of numbers or quantities. Transitive use.

Example

She totaled the receipts at the end of the day.

Example

The accountant spent the afternoon totaling the expenses from the international branch to prepare the quarterly report.
- add up
- calculate
- tally
5 to wreck completely (v.)
B2 Upper Intermediate American English Informal Slang

to damage a vehicle so badly that it cannot be repaired.

to damage a vehicle beyond the point of economical repair; derived from the insurance term 'total loss'.

Example

He was lucky to walk away after he totaled his car in the accident.

Example

The insurance adjuster confirmed that the frame was bent, meaning the vehicle was officially totaled and would be sent to the scrap yard.
- repair
- fix
6 mathematical ordering (adj.)
C2 Proficiency Technical Math

describing a system where every single item can be compared to another.

relating to a set in which every pair of elements is comparable under a specific relation.

Example

In a total order, you can always say if one number is bigger than another.

Example

The real numbers constitute a total ordering because for any two distinct values, one must strictly exceed the other.
- partial

Origin

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.

Idioms2 entries