quanta

Noun

quantum (countable and uncountable, plural quantums or quanta)

1. (South-Asia) The total amount of something; quantity.
   • The reader will perhaps be curious to know the quantum of this present, but we cannot satisfy his curiosity.1749, Henry Fielding, Tom Jones, Folio Society, published 1973, page 416
   1. (South-Asia) The amount of compensation awarded to a successful party in a lawsuit.
   2. (South-Asia) The length or magnitude of the sentence handed down to someone who has been found guilty of a crime.
2. The amount or quantity observably present, or available.
   • Each man has only a quantum of compassion, he argued, and mine is used up for the day.1979, John Le Carré, Smiley's People, Folio Society, published 2010, page 96
3. The smallest possible, and therefore indivisible, unit of a given quantity or quantifiable phenomenon.
   • The quantum of light energy was later called a photon.2002, David C Cassidy et al., Understanding Physics, Birkhauser, page 602
4. The amount of time allocated for a thread to perform its work in a multithreaded environment.

See all 13 meanings of quantum