micel

Forms

miċel (comparative māra, superlative mǣst)^[1] Also myċel and miċċel, myċċel.^[1][2]

Etymology

It is inherited from Proto-West Germanic *mikil, from Proto-Germanic *mikilaz (“great, large”).^[1][3] The adjective is found in Gothic 𐌼𐌹𐌺𐌹𐌻𐍃 (mikils), Old Norse mikill, Old Saxon mikil and Old High German mihhil.^[3][4][5]

It is related to Ancient Greek μέγας (mégas, “great”) and Latin magnus (“great”), and comes from Proto-Indo-European *méǵh₂s (“big, great”).^[1][5][6] Germanic alone added the suffix *-ila- to the root;^[3] Kroonen compares the Greek feminine μεγάλη (megálē) and leaves open whether the suffix spread from or to the word for “little”.^[3] Orel compares the Greek stem too, and records that it has been read both as an augmentative and as a diminutive suffix.^[4]

The ⟨ċ⟩ is the palatalised /k/ before the *i of the suffix, as in þenġel (“prince”).^[7] Unexpectedly, the inflected forms usually lose the middle vowel (⟨micle⟩, ⟨miclum⟩), and the /k/ before the resulting cluster was depalatalised.^[8][9] The comparative māra and superlative mǣst come from another stem, like 𐌼𐌰𐌹𐌶𐌰 (maiza) and 𐌼𐌰𐌹𐍃𐍄𐍃 (maists).^[10]

Earliest recorded meaning

The word is first recorded in the Corpus Glossary (s. ix¹), where suiðe micel “very great” glosses the Latin lemma “difinis”.^[11][12] In the Vespasian Psalter gloss (s. ix med.) edlean micel renders “retributio multa” “great reward” in Psalm 18.^[13][12]

Semantic evolution

Bosworth and Toller arrange the senses as great in size, rendering Latin “magnus” (mycel belle “a great bell”, glossing “campana”), great in quantity, much or many, rendering “multus”, and great in a figurative sense.^[14] Toller's Supplement divides the first further: size or stature, the bigger of two things of a kind, extent, coarseness of material, degree, power and importance.^[15] Clark Hall adds “long” of time and “loud”, the neuter as a noun with the genitive, “much”, and the adverb “greatly”.^[16] The case forms micles and micle serve as adverbs, “much, far”, in Beowulf.^[10] The charters often name places after it, with cumb, feld, hām, stān and strǣt.^[17]

The word became Middle English muchel, recorded from about 1121 in the Peterborough Chronicle.^[18] It survived in dialect as mickle, while its worn-down form gave much.^[19]

Timeline

• s. ix¹ – suiðe micel in the Corpus Glossary.^[11][12]
• s. ix med. – edlean micel glossing “retributio multa” in the Vespasian Psalter gloss.^[13][12]
• 890×897 – the word in the Pastoral Care (Hatton 20).^[20][12]
• s. x/xi – the adverbs micles and micle in the Beowulf manuscript.^[21][10]
• a1121 – Middle English mycele gold in the Peterborough Chronicle.^[18]

Meanings

Adjective

1. great, large, big.^[14][6]
2. much, many.^[14][22]
3. great in power, importance or degree; intense.^[15][16]
4. of time, long; of sound, loud.^[16][6]

Noun

1. much, a great deal, with a genitive.^[16][22]

Adverb

1. greatly, much, very.^[16][6]

Word family

• medmiċel
• efenmiċel
• miċele
• miċelian
• miċellīċ
• miċelmōd
• miċelnes
• miċelǣte

Descendants

• Middle English muchel (→ English much; English mickle; English muckle)^[1]

Usage notes

The comparative is māra “greater, more” and the superlative mǣst “greatest”, from another stem.^[10]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ Bosworth, Joseph; Toller, T. Northcote (1898), An Anglo-Saxon Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press; Toller, T. Northcote (1921), Supplement, p. 703
3. ^ a b c d Kroonen, Guus (2013), Etymological Dictionary of Proto-Germanic, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 11, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. 361
4. ^ a b Orel, Vladimir (2003), A Handbook of Germanic Etymology, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. 265
5. ^ a b Holthausen, Ferdinand (1934), Altenglisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, Heidelberg: Carl Winter, p. 221
6. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Altenglisches Wörterbuch, 4th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. micel
7. ^ Ringe, Don; Taylor, Ann (2014), The Development of Old English, A Linguistic History of English II, Oxford: Oxford University Press, p. 209
8. ^ Ringe, Don; Taylor, Ann (2014), The Development of Old English, A Linguistic History of English II, Oxford: Oxford University Press, p. 275
9. ^ Ringe, Don; Taylor, Ann (2014), The Development of Old English, A Linguistic History of English II, Oxford: Oxford University Press, p. 276
10. ^ a b c d Fulk, R. D.; Bjork, Robert E.; Niles, John D., eds. (2008), Klaeber's Beowulf and The Fight at Finnsburg, 4th ed., Toronto: University of Toronto Press (glossary), p. s.v. miċel
11. ^ a b Gneuss, Helmut; Lapidge, Michael (2014), Anglo-Saxon Manuscripts: A Bibliographical Handlist of Manuscripts and Manuscript Fragments Written or Owned in England up to 1100, Toronto: University of Toronto Press, p. 76
12. ^ a b c d e Healey, Antonette diPaolo; Price Wilkin, John; Xiang, Xin, eds. (2009), Dictionary of Old English Web Corpus, Toronto: Dictionary of Old English Project
13. ^ a b Gneuss, Helmut; Lapidge, Michael (2014), Anglo-Saxon Manuscripts: A Bibliographical Handlist of Manuscripts and Manuscript Fragments Written or Owned in England up to 1100, Toronto: University of Toronto Press, p. 329
14. ^ a b c Bosworth, Joseph; Toller, T. Northcote (1898), An Anglo-Saxon Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press; Toller, T. Northcote (1921), Supplement, p. 682
15. ^ a b Bosworth, Joseph; Toller, T. Northcote (1898), An Anglo-Saxon Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press; Toller, T. Northcote (1921), Supplement, p. Suppl. 637
16. ^ a b c d e Clark Hall, J. R. (1960), A Concise Anglo-Saxon Dictionary, 4th ed., with a supplement by H. D. Meritt, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, p. 235
17. ^ Middendorff, H. (1902), Altenglisches Flurnamenbuch, Halle: Niemeyer, p. 95
18. ^ a b Kurath, Hans; Kuhn, Sherman M.; Lewis, Robert E., eds. (1952–2001), Middle English Dictionary, Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press; online edition ed. Frances McSparran et al. (2000–2018)
19. ^ Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
20. ^ Gneuss, Helmut; Lapidge, Michael (2014), Anglo-Saxon Manuscripts: A Bibliographical Handlist of Manuscripts and Manuscript Fragments Written or Owned in England up to 1100, Toronto: University of Toronto Press, p. 499
21. ^ Gneuss, Helmut; Lapidge, Michael (2014), Anglo-Saxon Manuscripts: A Bibliographical Handlist of Manuscripts and Manuscript Fragments Written or Owned in England up to 1100, Toronto: University of Toronto Press, p. 344
22. ^ a b Sweet, Henry (1896), The Student's Dictionary of Anglo-Saxon, Oxford: Clarendon Press, p. 139