much
/mʌtʃ/
adjective, adverb, pronoun
Origin
Proto-Germanic
*mikilaz — great, big
Overview
Meaning Now
- Great in quantity, measure, or degree.
- Used to indicate a great extent or degree of something.
Language path
Proto-Indo-European → Proto-Germanic → Old English → Middle English → English
Earliest form
mycel
Earliest period
Old English
Journey
The word stems from a common Germanic root for 'greatness', which is also the ancestor of the German 'viel' (though via a different Germanic development) and the related Scots 'muckle'. The shift from the 'k' sound in 'mycel' to the 'ch' sound in 'much' is a characteristic development in southern Middle English dialects.
Evolution
- Proto-Indo-European
*meg-
“great”
- Old English
mycel
“great, large, much”
- Middle English
muche
“great, much”
Connections
Word parts
much
root
great
Related across languages
Old Norse
mikill
great
Gothic
mikils
great
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Related to much
External references use DefinedTerm semantics.