tantamount

== English == === Etymology === First attested in English in 1628. Either inherited from an unattested Middle English borrowing from Anglo-Norman tant amount, from amunter, from tant (“as much”) amonter (“to amount to”) or borrowed in the early 17th century from Italian tanto montare (“to amount to as much”). === Pronunciation === (Received Pronunciation) IPA(key): /ˈtæntəˌmaʊnt/ (General American, Canada) IPA(key): /ˈtæntəˌmaʊnt/, [ˈtɛəntəˌmaʊnt] (General Australian) IPA(key): /ˈtæntəˌmæɔnt/, [ˈtɛːntəˌmæɔnt], [ˈtɛːntəˌmɛɔnt] Rhymes: -æntəmaʊnt === Adjective === tantamount (comparative more tantamount, superlative most tantamount) Equivalent in meaning or effect; amounting to the same thing in practical terms, even if being technically distinct. [1641–] ==== Usage notes ==== Used almost exclusively in the phrase tantamount to. ==== Translations ==== === Verb === tantamount (third-person singular simple present tantamounts, present participle tantamounting, simple past and past participle tantamounted) (obsolete, intransitive) To amount to as much; to be equivalent. [1628–1716] === Noun === tantamount (plural tantamounts) (obsolete) Something which has the same value or amount (as something else). (attributive use passing into adjective, below) [1637–1646] === References === John A. Simpson and Edmund S. C. Weiner, editors (1989), “tantamount, n.”, in The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd edition, Oxford: Clarendon Press, →ISBN. John A. Simpson and Edmund S. C. Weiner, editors (1989), “tantamount, adj.”, in The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd edition, Oxford: Clarendon Press, →ISBN.