tantamount

English

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tantamount

/ˈtæntəˌmaʊnt/ UK
/ˈtæntəˌmaʊnt/ Canada, US
[ˈtɛəntəˌmaʊnt] Canada, US
/ˈtæntəˌmæɔnt/ Australia
[ˈtɛːntəˌmæɔnt] Australia
[ˈtɛːntəˌmɛɔnt] Australia

Rhymes with -æntəmaʊnt

Where it comes from

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”).

adjective more tantamount · most tantamount

Equivalent in meaning or effect; amounting to the same thing in practical terms, even if being technically distinct. Every moment might bring the British cruisers in sight,—two important expeditions had already been baffled in that way,—and the absolute certainty, known to all parties alike, that delay, under these circumstances, was tantamount to ruin; […]

verb tantamounts · tantamounting · tantamounted

intransitive, obsolete To amount to as much; to be equivalent. […] and yet this will not tant’amount to an immediate Divine inſtitution for Deacons, and how can it then for Presbyters ?

noun tantamounts

obsolete Something which has the same value or amount (as something else). (attributive use passing into adjective, below) For end thereof, not despondency but madness : for when Cossey understood that Hobday had called his wife a tantamount, he waited for him outside, and gave him what he called a pair of clippers over the ear.

Translations

Every language

adj equivalent in meaning or effect

Español	equiparable, equipolente, equivaler
Português	equivalente
Français	équivalent
Deutsch	gleichbedeutend
Italiano	equivalente
Русский	равноси́льный ravnosílʹnyj

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MLA

"tantamount." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/tantamount. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026.

APA

tantamount. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/tantamount

Chicago

"tantamount." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/tantamount.

BibTeX

@misc{tantamount_2026,
  title = {tantamount},
  howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://micwyn.com/word/tantamount},
  urldate = {2026-11-06}
}