sum

Etymology 1

From Middle English summe, from Old French summe, from Latin summa, feminine of summus (“highest”).

noun

1. A quantity obtained by addition or aggregation.
   The sum of 3 and 4 is 7.
2. (often plural) An arithmetic computation, especially one posed to a student as an exercise (not necessarily limited to addition).
   We're learning about division, and the sums are tricky.
3. A quantity of money.
   a tidy sum
   the sum of forty pounds
   Merchant Opold: This one promised compensation for services rendered. It humbly suggests that a sum of 250 credits would be most appropriate. Shepard: Would you have had any chance of getting this past customs without me? You can be a bit more generous. Merchant Opold: The other's words possess the discomforting ring of truth. Merchant Opold: This one could raise the sum to 500 credits. That is half this one's profit taken by the other. It can offer no more. 2008, BioWare, Mass Effect (Science Fiction), Redwood City: Electronic Arts, →OCLC, PC, scene: Noveria
4. A summary; the principal points or thoughts when viewed together; the amount; the substance; compendium.
   This is the sum of all the evidence in the case.
   This is the sum and substance of his objections.
5. A central idea or point; gist.
6. The utmost degree.
7. (obsolete) An old English measure of corn equal to the quarter.
   The sum is also used for the quarter, and the strike for the bushel. 1882, James Edwin Thorold Rogers, A History of Agriculture and Prices in England, volume 4, page 207

verb

1. (transitive) To add together.
   when you say that stability and change are, it's because you're summing them up together as embraced by it, and taking note of the communion each of them has with being. 2005, Plato, translated by Lesley Brown, Sophist, page 250b
2. (transitive) To give a summary of.

Etymology 2

Borrowed from Kazakh сом (som), Kyrgyz сом (som), Uyghur سوم (som), and Uzbek soʻm, all of which have the core signification “pure”, used in elliptical reference to historical coins of pure gold.

noun

1. The basic unit of money in Kyrgyzstan.
2. The basic unit of money in Uzbekistan.

Etymology 3

Eye dialect spelling of some.

pron

1. (African-American Vernacular, Internet slang, text messaging) Eye dialect spelling of some.

det

1. (African-American Vernacular, Internet slang, text messaging) Eye dialect spelling of some.

Etymology 4

From Mongolian сум (sum), from Manchu ᠨᡳᡵᡠ (niru, “a large arrow, militia company, district”). Ultimately from Proto-Mongolic *sumun (“arrow”).

noun

1. A type of administrative district used in China, Mongolia, and Russia. In Mongolia, a sum is smaller than a province. In China, it is only used in Inner Mongolia, where it is equivalent to a township.