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much

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much¹

  • /mʌt͡ʃ/ UK
  • /mʊt͡ʃ/ Northern England
  • /mʌt͡ʃ/ US
  • /mʌt͡ʃ/ Canada
  • /mʊt͡ʃ/ dialectal

Rhymes with -ʌtʃ (Southern England, US, Canada)

Where it comes from

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.

determiner more · most

  1. A large amount of. Do you think I have much chance of catching the train on time?
  2. in combinations such as 'as much' Used to indicate, demonstrate or compare the quantity of something. Add this much water and no more.
  3. archaic, nonstandard A great number of; many (people). ye shall not nede to seke hym soo ferre sayd the Kynge / for as I here saye sir Launcelot will abyde me and yow in the Ioyous gard / and moche peple draweth vnto hym as I here saye
  4. Caribbean, UK, regional many ( + plural countable noun). They got so much things to say right now, they got so much things to say.

Similar: a great deal of, a lot of · Opposite: little

adjective

  1. not comparable, obsolete Large, great. Thenne launcelot vnbarred the dore / and with his lyfte hand he held it open a lytel / so that but one man myghte come in attones / and soo there came strydyng a good knyghte a moche man and large / and his name was Colgreuaunce / of Gore / and he with a swerd strake at syr launcelot myȝtely and he
  2. not comparable, obsolete Long in duration.

adverb more · most

  1. To a great extent. I don't like melon much, and I don’t much care for milk chocolate either: I find them both much too sweet.

    Similar: a great deal, a lot, greatly, highly, loads, plenty, very much

  2. with a comparative adjective for emphasis or to indicate a great difference He is much fatter than I remember him.
  3. Often; frequently. Does he get drunk much?
  4. in combinations such as 'as much' Used to indicate or compare extent. I don't like Wagner as much as I like Mozart.
  5. slang Combining with an adjective or (occasionally) a noun, used in a rhetorical question to mock someone for having the specified quality. Jamie's always preaching about how we need to save a planet when she drives literally everywhere she goes. Like, hypocritical much?
  6. obsolete Almost.

Opposite: less, little, few, almost, nearly

pronoun

  1. A large amount or great extent; a lot. I don't have much to do.

Much²

Where it comes from

Two main origins:

* Borrowed from German Much.

* A variant of Mutch.

proper noun Muches

  1. A surname from German.

Thesaurus

Closest in meaning: a lot, so much, very much, overmuch, often, practically, some, such, untold, mucho, greatly, best, major, significantly, appreciably, hugely

determiner

Similar: a great deal of, a lot of · Opposite: little

adverb

Opposite: less, little, few, almost, nearly

Translations

Every language

det a large amount of

Españolmucho
한국어많이 mani
日本語沢山 takusan, 多くの ōku no, 多い ōi
中文多 duō, 很多 hěnduō, 好多 hǎoduō
हिन्दीअधिक adhik, बहुत bahut
Portuguêsmuito, um monte de
Françaisbeaucoup
Deutschviel
Italianomolto
Românămult
Русскиймно́го mnógo, нема́ло nemálo
Tiếng Việtnhiều
العربيةكَثِير kaṯīr
עבריתהַרבֵּה harbé

adv to a great extent

Españolmucho
한국어많은 maneun
日本語沢山の takusan no, 多い ōi
中文許多 /许多 xǔduō, 多 duō
Portuguêsmuito
Françaisbeaucoup
Deutschviel
Italianomolto
Ελληνικάπολύ polý
Românămult
Русскийо́чень óčenʹ, намно́го namnógo, гора́здо gorázdo
العربيةكَثِيرًا kaṯīran

adv (with a comparative adjective) for emphasis

Deutschviel

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Cite this
MLA

"much." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/much. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026.

APA

much. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/much

Chicago

"much." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/much.

BibTeX
@misc{much_2026,
  title = {much},
  howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://micwyn.com/word/much},
  urldate = {2026-11-06}
}