much

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English [edit]

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Etymology [edit]

From Middle English muche (“much, great”), apocopated variant of muchel (“much, great”), from Old English myċel, miċel (“large, great, much”), from Proto-Germanic *mikilaz (“great, many, much”), from Proto-Indo-European *meǵa- (“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 mye, 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.

Pronunciation [edit]

Determiner [edit]

much (comparative more, superlative most)

  1. (obsolete) Large, great. [12th-16th c.]
    • 1485, Sir Thomas Malory, Le Morte Darthur, Book XX:
      And so there cam strydyng a good knyght – a much man and a large, and hys name was called Sir Collgrevaunce of Goore [...].
  2. A large amount of. [from 13th c.]
    • 1816, Jane Austen, Persuasion:
      As it was, he did nothing with much zeal, but sport; and his time was otherwise trifled away, without benefit from books or anything else.
    • 2011, "Wisconsin and wider", The Economist, 24 Feb 2011:
      Unless matters take a nastier turn, neither side has much incentive to compromise.
  3. (now archaic or nonstandard) A great number of; many (people). [from 13th c.]
    • 1485, Sir Thomas Malory, Le Morte Darthur, Book XX:
      ‘Sir Launcelot woll abyde me and us all wythin the castell of Joyous Garde – and muche peple drawyth unto hym, as I here say.’
    • 1526, Bible, tr. William Tyndale, Matthew VI:
      When Jesus was come downe from the mountayne, moch people folowed him.
    • 1897, Bram Stoker, Dracula:
      There wasn't much people about that day.
  4. (now Caribbean, African-American) Many ( + plural countable noun). [from 13th c.]
    • 1977, Bob Marley ‘So Much Things to Say’:
      They got so much things to say right now, they got so much things to say.

Usage notes [edit]

  • Much is now generally used with uncountable nouns. The equivalent used with countable nouns is many. In positive contexts, much is avoided: I have a lot of money but not *I have much money.
  • Unlike many determiners, much is frequently modified by intensifying adverbs, as in “too much”, “very much”, “so much”, “not much”, and so on. (The same is true of many.)

Synonyms [edit]

Antonyms [edit]

Derived terms [edit]

Translations [edit]

a large amount of

Adverb [edit]

much (comparative more, superlative most)

  1. To a great extent.
    I don't like fish much.
    He is much fatter than I remember him.
    He left her, much to the satisfaction of her other suitor.
    • 2011 October 20, Michael da Silva, “Stoke 3 - 0 Macc Tel-Aviv”, BBC Sport:
      Tangling with Ziv, Cameron caught him with a flailing elbow, causing the Israeli defender to go down a little easily. However, the referee was in no doubt, much to the displeasure of the home fans.
  2. Often; frequently.
    Does he get drunk much?

Usage notes [edit]

  • As a verb modifier in positive contexts, much must be modified by another adverb: I like fish very much, I like fish so much, etc. but not *I like fish much.
  • As a comparative intensifier, many can be used instead of much if it modifies the comparative form of many, i.e. more with a countable noun: many more people but much more snow.

Synonyms [edit]

Antonyms [edit]

Translations [edit]

to a great extent

Pronoun [edit]

much

  1. A large amount or great extent.
    From those to whom much has been given much is expected.

Statistics [edit]

Anagrams [edit]

Polish [edit]

Pronunciation [edit]

Noun [edit]

much

  1. Genitive plural of mucha.
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