Word of the Day

: September 7, 2014

tantamount

adjective TAN-tuh-mount

What It Means

: equivalent in value, significance, or effect

tantamount in Context

The boss had told Morris that he was being reassigned to the shipping department, and he knew that it was tantamount to a demotion.

"Mrs. Clinton declined an invitation to speak, organizers said. Democratic analysts said that was no surprise-for her to attend such a gathering would have been tantamount to announcing a presidential run, which she is not yet ready to do." - Sheryl Gay Stolberg, The New York Times, July 19, 2014

Did You Know?

Tantamount comes from the Anglo-French phrase tant amunter, meaning "to amount to as much." This phrase comes from the Old French tant, meaning "so much" or "as much," and amounter, meaning "to ascend" or "to add up to." When tantamount first entered English, it was used similarly to the Anglo-French phrase, as a verb meaning "to be equivalent." "His not denying tant-amounteth to the affirming of the matter," wrote clergyman Thomas Fuller in 1659, for example. There was also a noun tantamount in the 17th century, but the adjective is the only commonly used form of the term nowadays.