SUM

Definitions

1. 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.
2. 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. 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. 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. 5. 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.