What is "quantifier"

n. 1 (context grammar English) A word, such as ''all'' or ''many'', that expresses a quantity 2 (context logic English) An operator, such as the universal quantifier (written as ∀) or the existential quantifier (∃), used in predicate calculus to indicate the degree that predicate is true for a specified set. 3 (context computing English) A symbol or symbols in a regular expression indicating the number of characters to be matched.

1. n. (logic) a word (such as `some' or `all' or `no') that binds the variables in a logical proposition [syn: logical quantifier]

2. (grammar) a word that expresses a quantity (as `fifteen' or `many')

Quantifier may refer to:

• Quantifier (linguistics), use of an indicator of quantity
• Quantifier (logic)
• Quantification (science)

In linguistics and grammar, a quantifier is a type of determiner, such as all, some, many, few, a lot, and no, (but not numerals) that indicates quantity.

Quantification is also used in logic, where it is a formula constructor that produces new formulas from old ones. Natural languages' determiners have been argued to correspond to logical quantifiers at the semantic level.

In logic, quantification is a construct that specifies the quantity of specimens in the domain of discourse that satisfy an open formula. For example, in arithmetic, it allows the expression of the statement that every natural number has a successor. A language element which generates a quantification (such as "every") is called a quantifier. The resulting expression is a quantified expression, it is said to be quantified over the predicate (such as "the natural number x has a successor") whose free variable is bound by the quantifier. In formal languages, quantification is a formula constructor that produces new formulas from old ones. The semantics of the language specifies how the constructor is interpreted . Two fundamental kinds of quantification in predicate logic are universal quantification and existential quantification. The traditional symbol for the universal quantifier "all" is "∀", a rotated letter " A", and for the existential quantifier "exists" is "∃", a rotated letter " E". These quantifiers have been generalized beginning with the work of Mostowski and Lindström.

Quantification is used as well in natural languages; examples of quantifiers in English are for all, for some, many, few, a lot, and no; see Quantifier (linguistics) for details.