Total means complete or whole, including everything. When a teacher asks for total silence, she wants the entire classroom completely quiet. A total eclipse happens when the moon blocks the entire sun. A building destroyed in a fire might be called a total loss because nothing could be saved.

The word also refers to the final number you get when you add things together. When you total up your scores from five math quizzes, you're adding them all to find the complete sum. At a grocery store, the cashier gives you a total after scanning all your items. In this sense, total works as both a noun (the sum itself) and a verb (the act of adding things up).

People also use totally to mean completely or entirely, as in “I'm totally ready for the test” or “That movie was totally amazing.” Notice how all these uses share the same core idea: everything included, nothing left out, the complete picture.