quantum

Of a change, sudden or discrete, without intermediate stages.

Adjective

  1. Of a change, sudden or discrete, without intermediate stages.
  2. Of a change, significant.
  3. Involving quanta, quantum mechanics or other aspects of quantum physics.
    • Some of the most beautiful and thus appealing physical theories, including quantum electrodynamics and quantum gravity, have been dogged for decades by infinities that erupt when theorists try to prod their calculations...

    Antonyms: classical

    1. (computing theory) Relating to a quantum computer.

      Antonyms: classical

Origin

From Late Latin quantum, noun use of neuter form of Latin quantus (“how much”).

Derived

azimuthal quantum number cavity quantum electrodynamics hyperquantum loop quantum gravity magnetic quantum number nonquantum orbital quantum number prequantum principal quantum number quabla operator quantize quanton quantum acoustics quantum algorithm quantum anomaly quantum biology quantum biophysics quantum bit ⇒ qubit ⇒ qu- quantum bogodynamics quantum brain quantum brain dynamics quantum byte

Noun

  1. The total amount of something; quantity.
    • The reader will perhaps be curious to know the quantum of this present, but we cannot satisfy his curiosity. - 1749, Henry Fielding, Tom Jones, Folio Society, published 1973, page 416:
    • A certain quantum of power must always exist in the community, in some hands, and under some appellation. - 1790, Edmund Burke, Reflections on the Revolution in France, Oxford, published 2009, page 142:
    • Otherwise I will have given the lie to my maxim that whether you work eight or twenty hours, the quantum of work that gets done on a normal day is the same. - 1997, Kiran Nagarkar, Cuckold, HarperCollins, published...

    1. (law) The amount of compensation awarded to a successful party in a lawsuit.

    2. (law) The length or magnitude of the sentence handed down to someone who has been found guilty of a crime.

  2. The amount or quantity observably present, or available.
    • Each man has only a quantum of compassion, he argued, and mine is used up for the day. - 1979, John Le Carré, Smiley's People, Folio Society, published 2010, page 96:
    • The dream of flying, according to Strümpell, is the appropriate image used by the psyche to interpret the quantum of stimulus [translating Reizquantum] proceeding from the rise and fall of the lungs when the cutaneous...
  3. The smallest possible, and therefore indivisible, unit of a given quantity or quantifiable phenomenon.
    • The quantum of light energy was later called a photon. - 2002, David C Cassidy et al., Understanding Physics, Birkhauser, page 602:
  4. The amount of time allocated for a thread to perform its work in a multithreaded environment.
  5. Ellipsis of quantum computing.
    • Developing for quantum has never been more accessible.
  6. The minimum dose of a pathogen required to cause an infection.
  7. Amount of goods produced or demanded.
  8. A definite portion of a manifoldness, limited by a mark or by a boundary.
    • Defined parts of a manifoldness are called Quanta - 1882, William Kingdon Clifford, Mathematical Papers:

Forms

quantums quanta

Derived

blood quantum post-quantum quantize quantum bogosort quantum interference quantum of action quantum of Indian blood quantum-proof quantum-resistant quantum-safe quantum satis quantum singularity quantum state tomography quantum weirdness time quantum