Etymograph

English

muy

Muy comes from Spanish muy ‘apocopic form of mucho’, from Old Spanish muito ‘much’, and perhaps ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *mel- ‘to worry, be late’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*mel-1‘to worry, be late’uncertain
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*ml̥tós1uncertain
  3. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*moltos1‘much, many’uncertain
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEmultus1‘much’
  5. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEmultum1‘much’
  6. Old Spanishc. 950–1500muito1‘much’
  7. Spanishc. 1500–presentmuy2‘apocopic form of mucho’
  8. Englishearliest quotation 1995muy2

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, Spanish muy
  2. 2 Wiktionary, English muy
  3. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1995, Drema Crist, Last-Second Sound Bites: “Spacehog are a perfectly nice band, with pleasantly strummed…”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*mel-Wiktionary, Spanish muy‘to worry, be late’uncertain
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*ml̥tósWiktionary, Spanish muyuncertain
  3. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*moltosWiktionary, Spanish muy‘much, many’uncertain
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEmultusWiktionary, Spanish muy‘much’
  5. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEmultumWiktionary, Spanish muy‘much’
  6. Old Spanishc. 950–1500muitoWiktionary, Spanish muy‘much’
  7. Spanishc. 1500–presentmuyWiktionary, English muy‘apocopic form of mucho’
  8. Englishearliest quotation 1995muyWiktionary, English muy. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1995, Drema Crist, Last-Second Sound Bites: “Spacehog are a perfectly nice band, with pleasantly strummed…”

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *mel- ‘to worry, be late’

mole, amelia, dulcimer, 28 more

through Latin multus ‘much’

multiple, multitude, multifarious, 9 more

through Old Spanish muito ‘much’

mucho

Today it means

adv Very.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “muy”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entry for Spanish muy. 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 *mel- / muy

Shirt and support for this word