Many
/ˈmɛni/noun
A large but indefinite number or amount.
Did you know?Many is ultimately related to words for ‘much’ and ‘more’ across the Germanic family, showing how old languages treated abundance as a force before they treated it as a count.
Etymological Timeline
Proto-Indo-European
PIE
*meǵ-
“to be great, large”
Proto-Germanic
PGmc
*managaz
“much, many”
Old English
OE
manig
“many, numerous”
Middle English
English
many
“many, numerous”
Modern English
English
many
“a large but indefinite number or amount”