many a mickle makes a muckle

English

Proverb

many a mickle makes a muckle

1. (UK) A lot of small amounts, put together, become a large amount.

Usage notes

Mickle and muckle both traditionally meant "a large amount", hence the somewhat more logical variant "many a little makes a mickle". In Scottish English, partly under the influence of this phrase, "mickle" has, however, also come to mean "a small amount".

Synonyms

• every little helps
• take care of the pennies and the pounds will take care of themselves
• a journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step
• little and often fills the purse

Translations

lot of small amounts together become a large amount

• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 聚沙成塔 (zh) (jù shā chéng tǎ)

• Danish: mange bække små gør en stor å
• Dutch: vele kleintjes maken een grote
• French: les petits ruisseaux font les grandes rivières (fr) (small streams make big rivers)
• German: Kleinvieh macht auch Mist (de)
• Hungarian: sok kicsi sokra megy (hu)
• Japanese: 塵も積もれば山となる (ja) (ちりもつもればやまとなる, chiri-mo tsumoreba yama-to naru)
• Korean: 티끌 모아 태산 (ko) (tikkeul moa taesan), 백지장도 맞들면 낫다 (ko) (baekjijangdo matdeulmyeon natda), 백지장도 맞들면 낫다 (ko) (baekjijangdo matdeulmyeon natda)
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Malay: sedikit-sedikit, lama-lama jadi bukit (bit by bit, in the end it becomes a hill), sehari selembar benang, lama-lama menjadi kain (everyday a thread, soon a cloth)
• Portuguese: grão a grão enche a galinha o papo
• Russian: копе́йка рубль бережёт (ru) (kopéjka rublʹ berežót) (a kopeyka saves a ruble), (somewhat) с миру по нитке - голому руба́ха (s miru po nitke - golomu rubáxa)
• Slovene: zrno na zrno pogača kamen na kamen palača
• Spanish: muchos pocos hacen un mucho
• Swedish: många bäckar små gör en stor å (sv)
• Turkish: damlaya damlaya göl olur.
• Vietnamese: tích tiểu thành đại, góp gió thành bão (vi)

References

• “mickle”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.