2. That which can be increased, diminished, or measured;
especially (Math.), anything to which mathematical
processes are applicable.
Note: Quantity is discrete when it is applied to separate
objects, as in number; continuous, when the parts are
connected, either in succession, as in time, motion,
etc., or in extension, as by the dimensions of space,
viz., length, breadth, and thickness.
3. A determinate or estimated amount; a sum or bulk; a
certain portion or part; sometimes, a considerable amount;
a large portion, bulk, or sum; as, a medicine taken in
quantities, that is, in large quantities.
The quantity of extensive and curious information
which he had picked up during many months of
desultory, but not unprofitable, study. --Macaulay.
{Quantity of estate} (Law), its time of continuance, or
degree of interest, as in fee, for life, or for years.
--Wharton (Law Dict. )
{Quantity of matter}, in a body, its mass, as determined by
its weight, or by its momentum under a given velocity.
{Quantity of motion} (Mech.), in a body, the relative amount
of its motion, as measured by its momentum, varying as the
product of mass and velocity.
{Known quantities} (Math.), quantities whose values are
given.
{Unknown quantities} (Math.), quantities whose values are
sought.
{Commensurable numbers} or {quantities} (Math.), those that
can be exactly expressed by some common unit; thus a foot
and yard are commensurable, since both can be expressed in
terms of an inch, one being 12 inches, the other 36
inches.
{Numbers}, or {Quantities}, {commensurable in power}, those
whose squares are commensurable.