# Much v. Mucho.

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/much-v-mucho/827663>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [January 12, 2019, 10:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/much-v-mucho/827663 "2019-01-12T22:17:01Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 2\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Jim\_B](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jim_b/32/4338_2.png) [@Jim\_B](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jim_B)\
**Post date:** [January 12, 2019, 10:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/much-v-mucho/827663/1 "2019-01-12T22:17:01Z")

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Something I have wondered about for some time now. But I didn’t know how to parse it as a Google search.

Is there any relationship between the English word ‘much’ and the Spanish word ‘mucho’?

They seem to have very similar meanings. But I recall reading somewhere that ‘much’ is from the Anglo-Saxon, _mycal_ or something like that. Spanish is a Romance language. So I assume ‘mucho’ is from Latin somehow.

What is the straight dope?

:):)🙂

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**Author:** ![Alley\_Dweller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alley_dweller/32/430_2.png) [@Alley\_Dweller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alley_Dweller)\
**Post date:** [January 12, 2019, 10:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/much-v-mucho/827663/2 "2019-01-12T22:30:15Z")

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[https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/much#Etymology](https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/much#Etymology)

> [@](#):
>
> From Middle English muche (“much, great”), apocopated variant of muchel (“much, great”), from Old English myċel, miċel, micel (“large, great, much”), from Proto-Germanic \*mikilaz (“great, many, much”), from Proto-Indo-European \*meǵa- (“big, stour, great”), \*meǵh₂-. See also mickle, muckle.

[https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/mucho#Spanish](https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/mucho#Spanish)

> [@](#):
>
> From Old Spanish mucho, from Latin multus (“much, many”), from the Proto-Indo-European \*ml̥tos (“crumbled, crumpled”, past passive participle). Compare the Portuguese muito (“much, many, a lot”). Unrelated to English much.