Etymograph

English

muckle

Muckle comes from Middle English muchel ‘much’, from Proto-West Germanic *mikil ‘big, large’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *méǵh₂s.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*méǵh₂s1‘big, great’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*mikilaz2‘great, large’reconstructed
  3. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*mikil2‘big, large’reconstructed
  4. Old Englishc. 450–1150myċel2
  5. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500muchel3as mukel‘much’
  6. Englishearliest quotation 1890muckle3

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, Proto-Germanic *mikilaz
  2. 2 Wiktionary, Middle English muchel
  3. 3 Wiktionary, English muckle
  4. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1890, Joseph Jacobs, Childe Rowland: “But long they waited, and longer still, / With…”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*méǵh₂sWiktionary, Proto-Germanic *mikilaz‘big, great’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*mikilazWiktionary, Middle English muchel‘great, large’reconstructed
  3. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*mikilWiktionary, Middle English muchel‘big, large’reconstructed
  4. Old Englishc. 450–1150myċelWiktionary, Middle English muchel
  5. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500muchelWiktionary, English muckleas mukel‘much’
  6. Englishearliest quotation 1890muckleWiktionary, English muckle. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1890, Joseph Jacobs, Childe Rowland: “But long they waited, and longer still, / With…”

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *méǵh₂s ‘big, great’

major, master, mayor, magnitude, magnum, maxim, magnate, magnify, maggiore, mahila, 15 more

through Proto-Germanic *mikilaz ‘great, large’

mair

through Proto-West Germanic *mikil ‘big, large’

mickle

through Middle English muchel ‘much’

much

Today it means

noun A great amount.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “muckle”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entries for Proto-Germanic *mikilaz, Middle English muchel. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.

Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *méǵh₂s / muckle

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