Sum , v. t. [imp. & p. p. Summed (?);
p. pr. & vb. n.
Summing.]
[Cf. F. sommer, LL.
summare.] 1. To bring together into one whole; to collect into one amount; to cast up, as a column of figures; to ascertain the totality of; -- usually with up.
The mind doth value every moment, and then the
hour doth rather sum up the moments, than divide the day.
Bacon. 2. To bring or collect into a small compass; to comprise in a
few words; to condense; -- usually with
up.
"Go to the ant, thou sluggard," in few words sums up the moral of
this fable.
L'Estrange.
He sums their virtues in himself alone.
Dryden. 3. (Falconry) To have (the feathers) full grown; to furnish with complete, or full-grown, plumage.
But feathered soon and fledge
They summed their pens [wings].
Milton.
Summing up, a compendium or abridgment; a recapitulation; a résumé; a summary.
Syn. -- To cast up; collect; comprise; condense; comprehend; compute.
Sum (?), n. [OE.
summe, somme, OF. sume, some, F. somme, L. summa, fr. summus highest, a superlative from sub under. See Sub-, and cf. Supreme.]
1. The aggregate of two or more numbers, magnitudes,
quantities, or particulars; the amount or whole of any
number of individuals or particulars added together;
as, the sum of 5 and
7 is 12.
Take ye the
sum of all the congregation.
Num. i. 2. &fist; Sum is now
commonly applied to an aggregate of numbers, and number to an aggregate of persons or things.
2. A quantity of
money or currency; any amount, indefinitely; as, a sum
of money; a
small sum, or a large sum. "The sum of forty pound."
Chaucer.
With a great sum obtained I this freedom.
Acts xxii. 28. 3. The principal points or thoughts when viewed together; the amount; the substance; compendium;
as, this is
the sum of all the evidence in the case; this is the
sum and substance of his objections.
4. Height; completion; utmost degree.
Thus have I told thee all my state,
and brought
My story to the
sum of earthly bliss.
Milton. 5. (Arith.) A problem to
be solved, or an example to
be wrought out. Macaulay.
A sum in arithmetic wherein a flaw discovered at a particular point is ipso facto fatal to the
whole.
Gladstone. A large sheet
of paper . . . covered with long sums.
Dickens. Algebraic sum, as distinguished from arithmetical sum, the aggregate of two or more numbers or quantities taken with regard to their signs, as + or -, according to the rules of
addition in algebra; thus, the algebraic sum of - 2, 8, and -1 is 5. -- In sum, in short; in brief. [Obs.] "In sum, the gospel . . . prescribes every
virtue to our conduct, and forbids every sin." Rogers.
Hear it pronounced