*SET-U

English word origin

Etymology of much

Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *méǵh₂s Proto-Indo-European *-lósder. Proto-Germanic *-ilaz Proto-Germanic *mikilaz Proto-West Germanic *mikil Old English miċel Middle English muchel Middle English muche English much

1 source sectionExtended source reportWiktionary original ↗
In this entry · 1 source sections

The source etymologies

Wiktionary via Kaikki / Wiktextract

The source reports below are imported and unreviewed by *SET-U. Separate numbered origins and differing source variants are preserved; agreement within this extraction is not independent corroboration.

Unnumbered source etymology

Original entry ↗
pron

A large amount or great extent; a lot.

adv

To a great extent. · for emphasis or to indicate a great difference · Often; frequently. · Used to indicate or compare extent.

adj

Large, great. · Long in duration.

det

A large amount of. · Used to indicate, demonstrate or compare the quantity of something. · A great number of; many (people). · many ( + plural countable noun).

Selected source glosses provide context, not a complete modern definition inventory

Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *méǵh₂s Proto-Indo-European *-lósder. Proto-Germanic *-ilaz Proto-Germanic *mikilaz Proto-West Germanic *mikil Old English miċel Middle English muchel Middle English muche English much From Middle English muche (“much, great”), apocopated variant of muchel (“much, great”), from Old English myċel, miċel (“big, much”), from Proto-West Germanic *mikil, from Proto-Germanic *mikilaz (“great, many, much”), from Proto-Indo-European *meǵh₂- (“big, stour, great”). See also mickle, muckle. Cognates Cognate with Scots mickle, mukill, mekil, mikil (“big, large, great, much”), Middle Dutch mēkel (“great, many, much”), Middle High German michel ("great, many, much"; > German michel (“great, big, large”)), Norwegian Bokmål mye (“much”), Norwegian Nynorsk mykje (“much”), Swedish mycket (“much”), Danish meget (“much”), Gothic 𐌼𐌹𐌺𐌹𐌻𐍃 (mikils, “great, many”), Ancient Greek μέγας (mégas, “large, great”), Modern Greek μεγάλος (megálos, “large, great”). Note that English much is not related to Spanish mucho, and their resemblance in both form and meaning is purely coincidental, as mucho derives from Latin multus and is not related to the Germanic forms. Instead, related to Spanish maño.

Relationships mentioned by the source

These are extracted mentions, not a timeline or a verified sequence of immediate parents.

This page abbreviates 2 auxiliary source items. The etymology narrative is not shortened. Omission counts are available in the audit fields below; consult the original for complete auxiliary material.

Inspect preserved source fields

Raw extraction fields are retained for auditing. Their order does not establish ancestry.

{
  "templates": [
    {
      "name": "etymon",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": ":inh",
        "3": "enm:muche",
        "tree": "1"
      },
      "expansion": "Etymology tree\nProto-Indo-European *méǵh₂s\nProto-Indo-European *-lósder.\nProto-Germanic *-ilaz\nProto-Germanic *mikilaz\nProto-West Germanic *mikil\nOld English miċel\nMiddle English muchel\nMiddle English muche\nEnglish much\n[Appendix:Glossary#derived_terms|Derived]] from\", \"terms\" : [ { \"id\" : \"agent nouns\", \"children\" : [ ], \"status\" : \"ok\", \"lang_name\" : \"Proto-Indo-European\", \"term\" : \"*-lós\", \"lang\" : \"ine-pro\" } ], \"keyword\" : \"derived\" } ], \"status\" : \"ok\", \"lang_name\" : \"Proto-Germanic\", \"term\" : \"*-ilaz\", \"lang\" : \"gem-pro\" } ], \"keyword_label\" : \"From\", \"is_group\" : true, \"keyword\" : \"affix\" } ], \"lang_name\" : \"Proto-Germanic\", \"term\" : \"*mikilaz\", \"status\" : \"ok\", \"lang\" : \"gem-pro\" } ], \"keyword_label\" : \"Inherited from\", \"keyword\" : \"inherited\" } ], \"lang_name\" : \"Proto-West Germanic\", \"term\" : \"*mikil\", \"status\" : \"ok\", \"lang\" : \"gmw-pro\" } ], \"keyword_label\" : \"Inherited from\", \"keyword\" : \"inherited\" } ], \"lang_name\" : \"Old English\", \"term\" : \"miċel\", \"status\" : \"ok\", \"lang\" : \"ang\" } ], \"keyword_label\" : \"Inherited from\", \"keyword\" : \"inherited\" } ], \"lang_name\" : \"Middle English\", \"term\" : \"muchel\", \"status\" : \"ok\", \"lang\" : \"enm\" } ], \"keyword_label\" : \"From\", \"keyword\" : \"from\" } ], \"lang_name\" : \"Middle English\", \"term\" : \"muche\", \"status\" : \"ok\", \"lang\" : \"enm\" } ], \"keyword_label\" : \"Inherited from\", \"keyword\" : \"inherited\" } ], \"lang_name\" : \"English\", \"term\" : \"much\", \"status\" : \"ok\", \"lang\" : \"en\" }\" data-lang=\"en\" data-title=\"much\">"
    },
    {
      "name": "inh",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "enm",
        "3": "muche",
        "t": "much, great"
      },
      "expansion": "Middle English muche (“much, great”)"
    },
    {
      "name": "inh",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "ang",
        "3": "myċel"
      },
      "expansion": "Old English myċel"
    },
    {
      "name": "inh",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "gmw-pro",
        "3": "*mikil"
      },
      "expansion": "Proto-West Germanic *mikil"
    },
    {
      "name": "inh",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "gem-pro",
        "3": "*mikilaz",
        "t": "great, many, much"
      },
      "expansion": "Proto-Germanic *mikilaz (“great, many, much”)"
    },
    {
      "name": "der",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "ine-pro",
        "3": "*meǵh₂-",
        "t": "big, stour, great"
      },
      "expansion": "Proto-Indo-European *meǵh₂- (“big, stour, great”)"
    },
    {
      "name": "col-top",
      "args": {
        "1": "2",
        "2": "cog"
      },
      "expansion": "Cognates"
    },
    {
      "name": "cog",
      "args": {
        "1": "sco",
        "2": "mickle"
      },
      "expansion": "Scots mickle"
    },
    {
      "name": "cog",
      "args": {
        "1": "dum",
        "2": "mekel",
        "3": "mēkel",
        "4": "great, many, much"
      },
      "expansion": "Middle Dutch mēkel (“great, many, much”)"
    },
    {
      "name": "cog",
      "args": {
        "1": "gmh",
        "2": "michel"
      },
      "expansion": "Middle High German michel"
    },
    {
      "name": "cog",
      "args": {
        "1": "de",
        "2": "michel",
        "3": "",
        "4": "great, big, large"
      },
      "expansion": "German michel (“great, big, large”)"
    },
    {
      "name": "gloss",
      "args": {
        "1": "\"great, many, much\"; > German <i class=\"Latn mention\" lang=\"de\">michel</i> (“great, big, large”)"
      },
      "expansion": "(\"great, many, much\"; > German michel (“great, big, large”))"
    },
    {
      "name": "cog",
      "args": {
        "1": "nb",
        "2": "mye",
        "3": "",
        "4": "much"
      },
      "expansion": "Norwegian Bokmål mye (“much”)"
    },
    {
      "name": "cog",
      "args": {
        "1": "nn",
        "2": "mykje",
        "3": "",
        "4": "much"
      },
      "expansion": "Norwegian Nynorsk mykje (“much”)"
    },
    {
      "name": "cog",
      "args": {
        "1": "sv",
        "2": "mycket",
        "3": "",
        "4": "much"
      },
      "expansion": "Swedish mycket (“much”)"
    },
    {
      "name": "cog",
      "args": {
        "1": "da",
        "2": "meget",
        "3": "",
        "4": "much"
      },
      "expansion": "Danish meget (“much”)"
    },
    {
      "name": "cog",
      "args": {
        "1": "got",
        "2": "𐌼𐌹𐌺𐌹𐌻𐍃",
        "3": "",
        "4": "great, many"
      },
      "expansion": "Gothic 𐌼𐌹𐌺𐌹𐌻𐍃 (mikils, “great, many”)"
    },
    {
      "name": "cog",
      "args": {
        "1": "grc",
        "2": "μέγας",
        "3": "",
        "4": "large, great"
      },
      "expansion": "Ancient Greek μέγας (mégas, “large, great”)"
    },
    {
      "name": "cog",
      "args": {
        "1": "el",
        "2": "μεγάλος",
        "3": "",
        "4": "large, great"
      },
      "expansion": "Greek μεγάλος (megálos, “large, great”)"
    },
    {
      "name": "cog",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "much"
      },
      "expansion": "English much"
    },
    {
      "name": "noncog",
      "args": {
        "1": "es",
        "2": "mucho"
      },
      "expansion": "Spanish mucho"
    },
    {
      "name": "noncog",
      "args": {
        "1": "la",
        "2": "multus"
      },
      "expansion": "Latin multus"
    },
    {
      "name": "cog",
      "args": {
        "1": "gem"
      },
      "expansion": "Germanic"
    },
    {
      "name": "cog",
      "args": {
        "1": "es",
        "2": "maño"
      },
      "expansion": "Spanish maño"
    },
    {
      "name": "etymon",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": ":inh",
        "3": "enm:muche",
        "tree": "1"
      },
      "expansion": "Etymology tree\nProto-Indo-European *méǵh₂s\nProto-Indo-European *-lósder.\nProto-Germanic *-ilaz\nProto-Germanic *mikilaz\nProto-West Germanic *mikil\nOld English miċel\nMiddle English muchel\nMiddle English muche\nEnglish much"
    }
  ],
  "links": [
    [
      "*méǵh₂s",
      "Reconstruction:Proto-Indo-European/méǵh₂s"
    ],
    [
      "*-lós",
      "Reconstruction:Proto-Indo-European/-lós#Proto-Indo-European:_agent_nouns"
    ],
    [
      "*-ilaz",
      "Reconstruction:Proto-Germanic/-ilaz#Proto-Germanic:_adjectival"
    ],
    [
      "*mikilaz",
      "Reconstruction:Proto-Germanic/mikilaz"
    ],
    [
      "*mikil",
      "Reconstruction:Proto-West Germanic/mikil"
    ],
    [
      "miċel",
      "micel#Old_English"
    ],
    [
      "muchel",
      "muchel#Middle_English"
    ],
    [
      "muche",
      "muche#Middle_English"
    ],
    [
      "muche",
      "muche#Middle_English"
    ],
    [
      "muchel",
      "muchel#Middle_English"
    ],
    [
      "myċel",
      "mycel#Old_English"
    ],
    [
      "miċel",
      "micel#Old_English"
    ],
    [
      "*mikil",
      "Reconstruction:Proto-West Germanic/mikil"
    ],
    [
      "*mikilaz",
      "Reconstruction:Proto-Germanic/mikilaz"
    ],
    [
      "*meǵh₂-",
      "Reconstruction:Proto-Indo-European/meǵh₂-"
    ],
    [
      "mickle",
      "mickle#English"
    ],
    [
      "muckle",
      "muckle#English"
    ],
    [
      "mickle",
      "mickle#Scots"
    ],
    [
      "mukill",
      "mukill#Scots"
    ],
    [
      "mekil",
      "mekil#Scots"
    ],
    [
      "mikil",
      "mikil#Scots"
    ],
    [
      "mēkel",
      "mekel#Middle_Dutch"
    ],
    [
      "michel",
      "michel#Middle_High_German"
    ],
    [
      "German",
      "w:German language"
    ],
    [
      "michel",
      "michel#German"
    ],
    [
      "mye",
      "mye#Norwegian_Bokmål"
    ],
    [
      "mykje",
      "mykje#Norwegian_Nynorsk"
    ],
    [
      "mycket",
      "mycket#Swedish"
    ],
    [
      "meget",
      "meget#Danish"
    ],
    [
      "𐌼𐌹𐌺𐌹𐌻𐍃",
      "𐌼𐌹𐌺𐌹𐌻𐍃#Gothic"
    ],
    [
      "μέγας",
      "μέγας#Ancient_Greek"
    ],
    [
      "μεγάλος",
      "μεγάλος#Greek"
    ],
    [
      "much",
      "much#English"
    ],
    [
      "mucho",
      "mucho#Spanish"
    ],
    [
      "mucho",
      "mucho#Spanish"
    ],
    [
      "multus",
      "multus#Latin"
    ],
    [
      "maño",
      "maño#Spanish"
    ]
  ],
  "references": [],
  "descendants": [],
  "lexical": [
    {
      "pos": "pron",
      "glosses": [
        "A large amount or great extent; a lot."
      ],
      "tags": [],
      "recordId": "1058a1b6176749eefc2a0b2dcfc0ea072c2d08520adfb9e0b556781d5d06303d",
      "rawRecordSha256": "a613904ea69305dbac6b8b09b3a10396da7a971e13d53c0f2bc2acb5b2b115ec",
      "sourceRecordOrdinal": 191547
    },
    {
      "pos": "adv",
      "glosses": [
        "To a great extent.",
        "for emphasis or to indicate a great difference",
        "Often; frequently.",
        "Used to indicate or compare extent."
      ],
      "tags": [],
      "recordId": "2c137483863347e29ccdab43a68548bfc2275f605b776df86f328a06b91a8690",
      "rawRecordSha256": "1708049a4cc08c7fb294e7da9294724f37ba4468df7ddda2b4c5637c6c54d194",
      "sourceRecordOrdinal": 191546
    },
    {
      "pos": "adj",
      "glosses": [
        "Large, great.",
        "Long in duration."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "not-comparable",
        "obsolete"
      ],
      "recordId": "43ff02e8c10b445666c36769f28f6a405353a4aa1a5fff921eae52654e8f2da6",
      "rawRecordSha256": "74e4c955a5687c1cae9572f3d4f54866dcfbf88ab0edea77f34d40322470b65a",
      "sourceRecordOrdinal": 191545
    },
    {
      "pos": "det",
      "glosses": [
        "A large amount of.",
        "Used to indicate, demonstrate or compare the quantity of something.",
        "A great number of; many (people).",
        "many ( + plural countable noun)."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "archaic",
        "nonstandard",
        "Caribbean",
        "UK",
        "regional"
      ],
      "recordId": "5dc3e98a4e3f1ec942be48bf9d565aac045e44bccad5acc228104d2a43b4af54",
      "rawRecordSha256": "7c4ccdbee78a8b097d5da54109d714f33220b4ce8c14144e58f989063e56017a",
      "sourceRecordOrdinal": 191544
    }
  ],
  "omittedAuxiliaryFields": {
    "templates": 0,
    "links": 0,
    "references": 0,
    "descendants": 0,
    "lexicalRecords": 0,
    "lexicalSenses": 2,
    "glosses": 0
  }
}

Where this record stops

This page does not supply an independently verified sound-change sequence, first-use manuscript or complete family tree unless a cited analysis explicitly establishes one. Missing detail here is a limit of this record—not a claim that humanity knows nothing more.

An older meaning does not determine what a word must mean today. Follow the sources, preserve disagreements, and keep ancestry separate from interpretation.

Contribute located evidence for much →

Source and snapshot

Imported from Wiktionary contributors; extracted by Tatu Ylonen / Wiktextract / Kaikki.org. Selected fields are reformatted and grouped; wording, source identity and etymology sections are retained. CC-BY-SA-4.0 applies to the imported source material.

Dump: 2026-10-01 · Extracted: 2026-10-30. These are snapshot dates, not the word’s first attestation or the page’s revision date.

Source entry and bibliography ↗Wiktionary revision history ↗Acquisition and rights ledger
Machine-source provenance
Source SHA-256
5ff2c072f8099f2d2ce484bd6957bf179f046d2ad37bc36555edf8bb84cb5291
Import run
73216b9a9b78ed3830994bf853103716f5a4dc57099e371e9f8fdc468facca26
Permanent entry ID
w-bXVjaA