many

many
\ \ [OE] Many goes back ultimately to Indo- European *monogho-, *menogho-, which also produced Russian mnogijmany’ and Welsh mynychoften’. From it was descended prehistoric Germanic *managaz, *manigaz, which have differentiated into German manch, Dutch menig, Swedish många, Danish mange, and English many. The pronunciation /meni/ dates from the 13th century; it perhaps arose from association with the unrelated any. The derived manifold [OE] preserves the original pronunciation.
\ \ Cf.MANIFOLD

Word origins - 2ed. . 2005.

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  • Many — Ma ny, a. & pron. Note: [It has no variation to express degrees of comparison; more and most, which are used for the comparative and superlative degrees, are from a different root.] [OE. mani, moni, AS. manig, m[ae]nig, monig; akin to D. menig,… …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • Many a — Many Ma ny, a. & pron. Note: [It has no variation to express degrees of comparison; more and most, which are used for the comparative and superlative degrees, are from a different root.] [OE. mani, moni, AS. manig, m[ae]nig, monig; akin to D.… …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • many — [men′ē] adj. more, most [ME < OE manig, akin to Ger manch (OHG manag) < IE base * menegh , many, richly > Sans maghā , gift, OIr menicc, abundant] 1. consisting of some large, indefinite number (of persons or things); numerous 2.… …   English World dictionary

  • many a/an — formal + literary used with a singular noun to refer to a large number of things or people It remained a mystery for many a year. [=for many years] I ve been there many a time. [=many times] Many a tale was told. [=many tales were told] Man …   Useful english dictionary

  • Many — Ma ny, n. [AS. menigeo, menigo, menio, multitude; akin to G. menge, OHG. manag[=i], menig[=i], Goth. managei. See {Many}, a.] 1. The populace; the common people; the majority of people, or of a community. [1913 Webster] After him the rascal many… …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • many — many, several, sundry, various, divers, numerous, multifarious mean consisting of a large number or comprising a large group. Many implies a likeness between the individuals or units in class, category, kind, or sort; except that it vaguely… …   New Dictionary of Synonyms

  • Many — may refer to: plural A quantifier that can be used with count nouns often preceded by as or too or so or that ; amounting to a large but indefinite number; many temptations ; a good many ; many directions ; more than a few, more than several… …   Wikipedia

  • Many — Many …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • Mány — Administration …   Wikipédia en Français

  • many — 1. Many, like much, tends to sound more formal in positive contexts (They have many friends) than in negative ones (They do not have many friends). In conversation and less formal written English, a lot of (or, even more informally, lots of) is… …   Modern English usage

  • Mány — Mány …   Wikipedia

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