different between cluster vs quantity

English

Etymology

From Middle English cluster, from Old English cluster, clyster (“cluster, bunch, branch”), from Proto-Germanic *klus-, *klas- (“to clump, lump together”) + Proto-Germanic *-þr? (instrumental suffix), related to Low German Kluuster (“cluster”), dialectal Dutch klister (“cluster”), Swedish kluster (“cluster”), Icelandic klasi (“cluster; bunch of grapes”).

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /?kl?st?/
• (US) IPA^(key): /?kl?st?/
• Rhymes: -?st?(r)

Noun

cluster (plural clusters)

1. A group or bunch of several discrete items that are close to each other.

   a cluster of islands

   • 1595, Edmund Spenser, Colin Clouts Come Home Againe

     Her deeds were like great clusters of ripe grapes, / Which load the bunches of the fruitful vine.

2. A number of individuals grouped together or collected in one place; a crowd; a mob.

3. (astronomy) A group of galaxies or stars that appear near each other.

4. (linguistics, education) A sequence of two or more words that occur in language with high frequency but are not idiomatic; a chunk, bundle, or lexical bundle.

   examples of clusters would include "in accordance with", "the results of" and "so far"

5. (music) A secundal chord of three or more notes.
6. (phonetics) A group of consonants.

7. (computing) A group of computers that work together.
8. (computing) A logical data storage unit containing one or more physical sectors (see block).
9. (statistics, cluster analysis) A subset of a population whose members are sufficiently similar to each other and distinct from others as to be considered a distinct group; such a grouping in a set of observed data that is statistically significant.
10. (military) A set of bombs or mines released as part of the same blast.
11. (army) A small metal design that indicates that a medal has been awarded to the same person before.
12. (slang, euphemistic) A clusterfuck.
13. (chemistry) An ensemble of bound atoms or molecules, intermediate in size between a molecule and a bulk solid.

Derived terms

Descendants

Translations

Verb

cluster (third-person singular simple present clusters, present participle clustering, simple past and past participle clustered)

1. (intransitive) To form a cluster or group.

   The children clustered around the puppy.

   • ?, Alfred Tennyson, Oenone

     His sunny hair / Cluster'd about his temples, like a god's.

   • 1563, John Foxe, Actes and Monuments

     the princes of the country […] clustering together

   • 1997, Lynn Keller, Forms of Expansion: Recent Long Poems by Women, University of Chicago Press, ?ISBN, chapter 6, 281:

     On the page, “Me” is irregular but—except for a prominent drawing of a two-toned hieroglyphic eye—not radically unusual: the lines are consistently left-justified; their length varies from one to a dozen syllables; they cluster in stanzalike units anywhere from one to six lines long that are separated by consistent spaces.

2. (transitive) To collect into clusters.
3. (transitive) To cover with clusters.

Translations

Anagrams

• culters, curlest, custrel, cutlers, relucts

Dutch

Etymology

Borrowed from English cluster.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?kl?s.t?r/
• Hyphenation: clus?ter
• Rhymes: -?st?r

Noun

cluster f or m or m (plural clusters, diminutive clustertje n)

1. cluster
2. (astronomy) star cluster

   Synonyms: sterrencluster, sterrenhoop, sterrenzwerm

Derived terms

• sterrencluster

French

Etymology

Borrowed from English cluster.

Noun

cluster m (plural clusters)

1. cluster

Portuguese

Etymology

Borrowed from English cluster.

Pronunciation

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /?kl?s.te?/

Noun

cluster m (plural clusters)

1. (music) cluster (chord of three or more notes)
2. (computing) cluster (group of computers working concurrently)

Spanish

Noun

cluster m (plural clusters or cluster)

1. Alternative spelling of clúster

English

Etymology

From Middle English quantite, from Old French quantité, from Latin quantit?s (“quantity”), from quantus (“how much”).

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /?kw?n.t?.ti/
• (General American) enPR: kw?n?(t)?t?, IPA^(key): /?kw?n(t)?ti/, [?k?w?n(?)??i], [?k?w?n(t?)?t?i]
  • Note: This is with a relaxed middle T, and is only used in colloquial contexts by many speakers.
• (Canada) IPA^(key): /?kw?nd?di/, /?kw?n???i/
• (obsolete) IPA^(key): /?kwæn.t?.ti/

Noun

quantity (countable and uncountable, plural quantities)

1. A fundamental, generic term used when referring to the measurement (count, amount) of a scalar, vector, number of items or to some other way of denominating the value of a collection or group of items.

2. An indefinite amount of something.

   Some soap making oils are best as base oils, used in a larger quantity in the soap, while other oils are best added in a small quantity.

3. A specific measured amount.

4. A considerable measure or amount.

5. (metrology) Property of a phenomenon, body, or substance, where the property has a magnitude that can be expressed as number and a reference.
6. (mathematics) Indicates that the entire preceding expression is henceforth considered a single object.
   • 2006, Jerome E. Kaufmann and Karen Schwitters, Elementary and Intermediate Algebra: A Combined Approach, p 89

     For problems 58-67, translate each word phrase into an algebraic expression. […] 65. x plus 9, the quantity squared

   • 2005, R. Mark Sirkin, Statistics For The Social Sciences, p137

     The second, ${\displaystyle (\sum x)^{2}}$, read "summation of x, quantity squared," tells us to first add up all the xs to get ${\displaystyle \sum x}$ and then square ${\displaystyle \sum x}$ to get ${\displaystyle (\sum x)^{2}}$.

   • 1985, Serge Lang, Math!: Encounters with High School Students, p54

     ANN. ${\displaystyle ra}$ quantity cubed.

     SERGE LANG. That's right, ${\displaystyle (ra)^{3}}$.

Usage notes

• In mathematics, used to unambiguously orate mathematical equations; it is extremely rare in print, since there is no need for it there.

Synonyms

• Qty

Derived terms

• unknown quantity

Related terms

Translations

See also

• measure
• unit

Further reading

• quantity in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.
• quantity in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911.
• quantity at OneLook Dictionary Search