inasmuch

Etymology

It is formed from English in + as + much,^[2][3] first written in three parts, “in as much”, then often as “in asmuch”, and solid from the 14th century, especially since the 17th.^[2][4] The northern Middle English form was in als mikel,^[2][4][5] and Chaucer wrote in as muche.^[6][7] The phrase renders Old French en tant que (“in so much as”), which represents Latin in tantum ut,^[3][8][9] the Latin being from tantum (“so much”), the neuter of tantus (“so great”).^[8]

Earliest recorded meaning

To such a degree, in so far as: about 1300, in the northern form in als mikel,^[4][5] in the Cursor Mundi.^[5] The 1989 edition of the OED dated this sense to before 1300,^[10] while the current OED's first quotation is from the Wycliffite Sermons of about 1380.^[2]

Semantic evolution

The phrase first expressed degree, "in so far as, in proportion as".^[2][4] By the late 14th century, inasmuch as also gave a reason, "in view of the fact that, since"; the OED's first quotation for that sense is from Chaucer's Nun's Priest's Tale, about 1386.^[2][4] Merriam-Webster dates the conjunction inasmuch as to the 14th century,^[11] Dictionary.com to 1250–1300.^[12] Without a following as, inasmuch meant "likewise, in a like degree" in the 18th century, a use now obsolete.^[2][10]

Timeline

• c. 1300 – to such a degree, in so far as, in the northern form in als mikel.^[4][5] The current OED's first quotation is from about 1380.^[2]
• c. 1386 – inasmuch as, in view of the fact that; since, in Chaucer.^[2][4]
• 1732 – without as, likewise (obsolete).^[2] The 1989 edition of the OED dated it to 1727.^[10]

Meanings

Adverb

1. inasmuch as: since; because of the fact that: Inasmuch as the roads were closed, the meeting was postponed.^[13][11][14]
2. inasmuch as: to the extent that; insofar as.^{[13][11][14][2]}

Word family

• inasmuch as

Related words

• insomuch
• insofar
• much
• as

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
4. ^ a b c d e f g Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
5. ^ a b c d Onions, C. T., ed. (1966), The Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
6. ^ Skeat, W. W., ed. (1894), The Complete Works of Geoffrey Chaucer, vol. VI: Glossarial Index, Oxford: Clarendon Press
7. ^ 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)
8. ^ a b Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
9. ^ Stevenson, Angus, ed. (2010), Oxford Dictionary of English, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
10. ^ a b c Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
11. ^ a b c Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
12. ^ Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
13. ^ a b The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin
14. ^ a b Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary (2003), 11th ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster