What does magnitude mean?
Word: Magnitude
Part of Speech: Noun
Meaning: Magnitude means great size or importance; also the size of something, such as the strength of an earthquake or the brightness of a star.
Synonyms: size, extent, importance
Antonyms: smallness, insignificance
Word origin: Comes from Latin magnitudo, greatness, from magnus, great.
How do you spell magnitude?
Syllables: mag - ni - tude
Tricky part: The vowel after the n is i, not a, so it is magnitude, not magnatude.
Watch out for: magnatude, magnitued, magnitute, magintude
Memory tip: Magnify and magnitude both start with magni: when you magnify something, its magnitude seems to grow.
Magnitude in a sentence
Example 1: Nobody understood the magnitude of the task until the trucks of books arrived.
Example 2: The scientist measured the magnitude of the force with a spring balance.
Example 3: The headmaster spoke about the magnitude of the honour as our captain lifted the trophy.
Fun Fact
Star brightness is measured in magnitudes, and the numbers run backwards: the brighter the star, the smaller the number. Sirius, the brightest star in the night sky, is about minus 1.5.
Practise the CREST Way
Word Connection
Choose the word closest in meaning to magnitude as used in the sentence:
No one in the office had foreseen a problem of this magnitude when all the computers stopped at once.
a) scale
b) location
c) timing
d) reason
Show answer
a) scale. The magnitude of a problem is how big it is, which is its scale; reason, location and timing do not measure size.
Mingle-Mangle
Unjumble the word in the sentence and choose it:
The volunteers were surprised by the sheer deitngamu of the clean-up after the village fair.
a) longitude
b) amplitude
c) multitude
d) magnitude
Show answer
d) magnitude. The letters include m, a, g and n, and only magnitude uses all four; multitude, amplitude and longitude each need an l.
Spell-o-Spell
Only one word in the list is spelt correctly. Choose the meaning of that word.
1. velosity 2. magnitude 3. presure 4. temprature
a) speed in a given direction
b) how large or significant something is
c) how hot or cold something is
d) the force pressing on a surface
Show answer
b) how large or significant something is. Velocity is spelt with a c, pressure with ss and temperature with era in the middle; only magnitude is right as printed.
Word Cookie
Insert the correct letters to form a word:
magnit_d_
a) u, i
b) o, e
c) e, e
d) u, e
Show answer
d) u, e. The ending is tude, the same four letters as in attitude.
Multiple Choice Questions
1. When a newspaper speaks of a crisis of great magnitude, it means the crisis is ____.
a) very funny
b) very old
c) very serious
d) very short
Show answer
c) very serious
2. Two forces have the same magnitude but act in opposite directions. Which statement is true?
a) they push or pull equally hard
b) they point the same way
c) they started at the same time
d) they act on the same object
Show answer
a) they push or pull equally hard
