different between quantity vs pisspot

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

English

Alternative forms

• piss pot

Etymology

From Middle English pyssepotte; equivalent to piss +? pot.

Pronunciation

Noun

pisspot (plural pisspots)

1. (vulgar slang, dated) A portable container used for urination, especially in hospitals or in the absence of indoor plumbing; a chamber pot.
   • 1972, Aleister Crowley & al., The Magical Record of the Beast 666: The Diaries of Aleister Crowley, 1914-1920, p. 103:

     Beauty looks like a pisspot. I tell her so. A compliment because the golden urine of life is poured into her by her Father the Sun. Hence, the Sun is sitting on a pisspot. That pisspot is the Zodiac.

   • 1974 Angela Carter, Fireworks, p. 115:

     He was fumbling in his little night-table, where he keeps his pisspot.

   • 2000, Gregory Maguire, Confessions of an Ugly Stepsister, p. 252:

     Upstairs, Cornelius van den Meer is calling for the pisspot to be emptied.

2. (vulgar slang, derogatory) A very unpleasant person, particularly a mean, nasty, or contemptible one.
   • 1992, Ben Bova, Mars p. 102:

     That ought to satisfy the pisspot sons of bitches, he thought as he transmitted his apology to the spacecraft orbiting above.

   • 1996, James Lee Burke, Cadillac Jukebox, p. 270:

     ‘I?m sorry about your place. It?s not my doing,’ I said.
     ‘Like hell it isn?t.’ Then a yellow tooth glinted behind his lip and he added, ‘You little pisspot.’

   • 1998, Frederick Nolan, The West of Billy the Kid, p. 287:

     By now a large crowd had gathered; when she learned the kid was dead a sobbing Deluvina Maxwell cursed Garrett and pounded his chest. “You pisspot!” she raged, “you sonofabitch!”

3. (vulgar slang, derogatory) An unpleasant or disgusting place or thing.
   • 2005, David Drake, The Way To Glory, p. 198:

     He sailed it out the hatch into the harbor, then shrugged off the wrap and balanced it in his hand. “Do for wiping rags, I guess,” he muttered. “I won?t be sorry to look down on this pisspot world, though.”

   • 2006, David Wellington, Monster Island, p. 11:

     It was only the pisspots of the world that made it. The most dangerous places. The unstable countries, the feudal states, the anarchic backwaters, places you wouldn?t dare walk out the door without a gun, where bodyguards were fashion accessories—those places did a lot better in the end.

   • 2011, George R. R. Martin, A Dance with Dragons, p. 498:

     “It should have been you who threw the feast, to welcome me back,” Ramsay complained, “and it should have been in Barrow Hall, not this pisspot of a castle.”

4. (vulgar slang, derogatory) A large quantity.
   • 1966, Robert Carson, The Outsiders, p. 225:

     “Damned successful. In fact, I have made a veritable pisspot of money.”

   • 1980, Ron Goulart, Hail Hibbler, p. 88:

     “A whole colony?” Lightnin? Jim swallowed. “That?ll cost you a whole pisspot of loot, Princess.”
5. (vulgar slang, derogatory, Australia) A consumer of large quantities of alcohol; a drunkard.
   • 1983, The Strength of Tradition: Stories of the Immigrant Presence in Australia, 1970-81, p. 163:

     “Today my son said to me, ‘You're a pisspot, dad, a bloody pisspot.’ You know what that Australian word ‘pisspot’ means, Kapetan Nikola? A ‘metho’, a drunkard. He called me, his own father, a ‘metho’...”

   • 1988, Kate Jennings, "Cold Water" in Trouble: Evolution of a Radical, Selected Writings 1970-2010, p. 77:

     I would get indignant at magazine articles that characterised Australia as a nation of pisspots. I remember one in particular because I was nearly inspired to write a letter to the editor. ‘Australians,’ claimed the journalist, ‘drank until they threw up on their shoes.’ And then I realised there was a good deal of truth in all this. Quite a few Australians do drink until they throw up on their shoes. I have done it myself.

   • 2011, Bill Marsh, Great Australian Railway Stories, p. 48:

     I mean, the bastard was an absolute bloody pisspot. The prick got the sack later anyway, for being drunk on the job.

Synonyms

• (chamber pot): See Thesaurus:chamber pot
• (large quantity): shitload, metric shitload, shit-ton; see also ton and load
• (regular drinker): pisshead (similarly pejorative); see also Thesaurus:drunkard

Anagrams

• popists