much

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See also: múch, mùch, müch, and Much

English

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Etymology

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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.

Pronunciation

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Determiner

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much (comparative more, superlative most)

  1. A large amount of. [from 13th c.]
    Hurry! We don't have much time!
    They set about the task with much enthusiasm.
    • 1817 (date written), [Jane Austen], Persuasion; published in Northanger Abbey: And Persuasion. […], volume (please specify |volume=III or IV), London: John Murray, […], 20 December 1817 (indicated as 1818), →OCLC:
      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 February 24, “Wisconsin and wider”, in The Economist:
      Unless matters take a nastier turn, neither side has much incentive to compromise.
  2. (in combinations such as 'as much', 'this much') Used to indicate, demonstrate or compare the quantity of something.
    Add this much water and no more.
    Take as much time as you like.
  3. (now archaic or nonstandard) A great number of; many (people). [from 13th c.]
  4. (now Caribbean, African-American, UK regional) many ( + plural countable noun). [from 13th c.]
    • 1977, Bob Marley (lyrics and music), “So Much Things to Say”:
      They got so much things to say right now, they got so much things to say.

Usage notes

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  • Much is now generally used with uncountable nouns. The equivalent used with countable nouns is many. In positive contexts, much is widely avoided: I have a lot of money instead of I have much money. There are some exceptions to this, however: I have much hope for the future. A lot of these cases are emotive transitive verbs and nouns. I have much need for a new assistant. In parallel, I need it very much.
  • 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

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Antonyms

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Translations

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Adjective

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much (not comparable)

  1. (obsolete) Large, great. [12th–16th c.]
    • 1485, Sir Thomas Malory, “iiij”, in Le Morte Darthur, book XX (in Middle English):
      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 put asyde the stroke
      (please add an English translation of this quotation)
  2. (obsolete) Long in duration.

Adverb

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much (comparative more, superlative most)

  1. To a great extent.
    I don't like fish much. I don’t much care for strawberries either.
    He is much fatter than I remember him.
    He left her, much to the satisfaction of her other suitor.
    That boyfriend of yours is much {like - the same as} the others.
    My English was much the worst, and I'm certainly not much good at math either.
    Honestly, I can't stand much more of this.
    Both candidates, who are much of an age, say much the same thing, but the youngest shows much the commoner behavior of the two.
    • 1909, Archibald Marshall [pseudonym; Arthur Hammond Marshall], “A Court Ball”, in The Squire’s Daughter, New York, N.Y.: Dodd, Mead and Company, published 1919, →OCLC, page 9:
      They stayed together during three dances, went out on to the terrace, explored wherever they were permitted to explore, paid two visits to the buffet, and enjoyed themselves much in the same way as if they had been school-children surreptitiously breaking loose from an assembly of grown-ups.
    • 2008, “Right Now (Na Na Na)” (track 1), in Freedom, performed by Akon:
      I can’t lie (I miss you much). Watching every day that goes by (I miss you much).
    • 2011 October 20, Michael da Silva, “Stoke 3-0 Macc Tel-Aviv”, in 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.
    • 2013 June 8, “The new masters and commanders”, in The Economist, volume 407, number 8839, page 52:
      From the ground, Colombo’s port does not look like much. Those entering it are greeted by wire fences, walls dating back to colonial times and security posts. For mariners leaving the port after lonely nights on the high seas, the delights of the B52 Night Club and Stallion Pub lie a stumble away.
  2. Often; frequently.
    Does he get drunk much?
  3. (in combinations such as 'as much', 'this much') Used to indicate or compare extent.
    I don't like Wagner as much as I like Mozart.
  4. (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?
    • 2005 December 28, Seth Stevenson, “What’s With That Overstock.com Ad?”, in Slate‎[1], New York, N.Y.: The Slate Group, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 2024-01-20:
      The moment you've been waiting for—the lowdown on the Overstock hottie. I talked to her by phone last week. (Jealous much, gentlemen? Ad Report Card talks to all the fine ladies.)
    • 2023 May 12, Lia Mappoura, “I tried Glossier's brand new G Suit lip crèmes so you don't have to – you're welcome”, in Cosmopolitan‎[2]:
      Well, on the grounds of this, what if I told you the brand's latest launch goes against the latter and instead, is the first product in an opaque lip crème line? Screaming, crying, throwing up, much?
  5. (obsolete) Almost.

Usage notes

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  • As a verb modifier in positive contexts, much must in standard English 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.
  • May be used in humorous questions to draw attention to somebody's undesirable behaviour: "desperate much?", "cherry-picking much?", etc.

Synonyms

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Antonyms

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Translations

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Pronoun

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much

  1. A large amount or great extent.
    From those to whom much has been given much is expected.
    We lay awake for much of the night.

Derived terms

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References

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Anagrams

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Chuj

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Noun

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much

  1. bird

Chuukese

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Verb

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much

  1. to end

Czech

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Pronunciation

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Noun

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much

  1. genitive plural of moucha

Old Spanish

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Pronunciation

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Adverb

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much

  1. Apocopic form of mucho; very, greatly
    • c. 1200, Almerich, Fazienda de Ultramar, f. 36r:
      Job fue much rich õe e ouo .v. fijos. ⁊ .iij. fijas. ⁊ ouo .mil. ouejas. ⁊ .iij. mil. camellos. ⁊ .d. iugos de bueẏes. ⁊ .v. mil aſnas.
      Job was a very rich man. And he had five sons and three daughters. And he owned a thousand sheep and three thousand camels and five hundred yoke of oxen and five thousand donkeys.

Polish

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Pronunciation

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Noun

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much f

  1. genitive plural of mucha

Swedish

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Noun

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much c

  1. Archaic spelling of musch.

Yola

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Adjective

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much

  1. Alternative form of mucha
    • 1867, “SONG”, in SONGS, ETC. IN THE DIALECT OF FORTH AND BARGY, number 2, page 108:
      Hea had no much wut,
      He had not much wit,

References

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  • Jacob Poole (d. 1827) (before 1828) William Barnes, editor, A Glossary, With some Pieces of Verse, of the old Dialect of the English Colony in the Baronies of Forth and Bargy, County of Wexford, Ireland, London: J. Russell Smith, published 1867, page 108

Yucatec Maya

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Noun

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much

  1. Obsolete spelling of muuch.
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