A quantity is an amount of something that you can count or measure. When a recipe calls for a large quantity of flour, it means you need a lot of it. When a store runs out of a popular toy, they might order a new quantity to restock their shelves.

Quantities show up everywhere in daily life. In math class, you work with quantities constantly: the number of students in your class, the sum of two numbers, or the area of a rectangle. In science, you measure quantities like temperature, weight, and volume. When you're shopping, you might compare quantities to find the best deal: is it better to buy a small quantity at a lower price, or a large quantity that costs more but gives you more for each dollar?

Sometimes people use quantity when they want to emphasize amount rather than quality. If someone says “quantity over quality,” they mean choosing to have more of something even if each piece isn't as good. But the word itself is neutral: it just describes how much of something exists or is needed, whether that's a tiny quantity of salt in a recipe or an enormous quantity of stars in the universe.