Total Definition & Meaning

American

British

Usage

Related Words

Other Word Forms

Etymology

Examples

Related Words

Synonyms total American [toht-l] / ˈtoʊt l /

adjective

1. constituting or comprising the whole; entire; whole.

   the total expenditure.

   Synonyms: complete

2. of or relating to the whole of something.

   the total effect of a play.

3. complete in extent or degree; absolute; unqualified; utter.

   a total failure.

4. involving all aspects, elements, participants, resources, etc.; unqualified; all-out.

   total war.

noun

1. the total amount; sum; aggregate.

   a total of $200.

   Synonyms: totality, gross

2. the whole; an entirety.

   the impressive total of Mozart's achievement.

   Synonyms: totality, gross

verb (used with object)

totaled, totaling, totalled, totalling

1. to bring to a total; add up.

2. to reach a total of; amount to.

3. Slang. to wreck or demolish completely.

   He totaled his new car in the accident.

verb (used without object)

totaled, totaling, totalled, totalling

1. to amount (often followed byto ).

total British / ˈtəʊtəl /

noun

1. the whole, esp regarded as the complete sum of a number of parts

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

adjective

1. complete; absolute

   the evening was a total failure

   a total eclipse

2. (prenominal) being or related to a total

   the total number of passengers

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

verb

1. to amount

   to total six pounds

2. (tr) to add up

   to total a list of prices

3. slang (tr) to kill or badly injure (someone)

4. (tr) to damage (a vehicle) beyond repair

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Usage

What does total mean? Total describes the wholeness or entirety of something, like the total amount of cake you ate last night. If you ate the total cake, you ate the entire cake (and might have felt sick afterward!).Total describes the breadth of something either physically or conceptually. For example, your total order describes all the items in your purchase. While if you’re a total success, you are completely successful.A total is the complete amount or sum. The total on your restaurant bill is the entire amount of money you owe for your meal.A total can also be the entirety of something. The total of your book collection would be all the books you own, and the total of your sports equipment is all the equipment you own.Finally, to total is to add up (to total your bill) or to reach an amount, as in The bill totalled up to $56.75.Example: The total on the bill is higher than I expected because I forgot about sales tax.

Related Words

See whole.

Other Word Forms

• quasi-total adjective
• quasi-totally adverb
• retotal verb (used with object)
• supertotal noun
• totally adverb
• untotaled adjective
• untotalled adjective

Etymology

Origin of total

First recorded in 1350–1400; Middle English (adjective), from Medieval Latin tōtālis , equivalent to Latin tōt(us) “entire” + -ālis -al 1

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

In total, the report made two recommendations and 16 requirements.

From BBC

They had the second-most snaps played by rookies this season and a total of 416 regular season games by players in their first year in Foxborough - a record for a team reaching a Super Bowl.

From BBC

"Having such a good bowling attack is always going to keep us in games. We had to find a way of posting competitive totals," said Conrad.

From Barron's

There are concerns that moving towards a total ban on phone use in schools would bring more challenges.

From BBC

In the days after his declaration of resistance this past spring, the school received nearly 4,000 gifts totaling more than $1 million.

From The Wall Street Journal

Related Words

• absolute
• comprehensive
• entire
• full
• outright
• overall
• sheer
• unconditional
• unlimited
• unrestricted
• utter

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.