mickle

[mik-uh l]

adjective Archaic.

great; large; much.

Origin of mickle

before 900; Middle English mikel < Old Norse mikill; replacing Middle English michel, Old English micel (see much); cognate with Old High German mihil, Gothic mikils, akin to Latin magnus, Greek mégas

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for mickle

Contemporary Examples of mickle

“I was really struck at first by how funny Michael was in his comic timing,” Mickle adds.
Michael C. Hall on Where ‘Dexter’ Went Wrong and His New Killer Role in ‘Cold in July’
Melissa Leon
May 23, 2014

Historical Examples of mickle

Mitchell may have been reinforced by Mickle, the northern for Bigg.
The Romance of Names
Ernest Weekley
"These are among the very things that will ruin us," responded Mickle.
The Printer Boy.
William M. Thayer
And it were well if they might gather a little host ere their foeman might gather a mickle.
Child Christopher
William Morris
He said, If he has not preached, mickle has he prayed in his time.
Historical Parallels, vol 3 (of 3)
Arthur Thomas Malkin
In sooth nor knight nor lady / upon the bed had mickle rest.
The Nibelungenlied
Unknown

British Dictionary definitions for mickle

mickle

Scot and Northern English dialect muckle (ˈmʌkəl)

adjective

great or abundant

adverb

much; greatly

noun

a great amount, esp in the proverb, mony a little makes a mickle

Scot a small amount, esp in the proverb, many a mickle maks a muckle

Word Origin for mickle

C13 mikel, from Old Norse mikell, replacing Old English micel much

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for mickle

adj.

dialectal survival of Old English micel, mycel "great, intense, big, long, much, many," from Proto-Germanic *mekilaz (cf. Old Saxon mikil, Old Norse mikill, Old High German mihhil, Gothic mikils), from PIE root *meg- "great, large" (cf. Armenian mets "great;" Sanskrit mahat- "great, mazah- "greatness;" Avestan mazant- "great;" Hittite mekkish "great, large;" Greek megas "great, large;" Latin magnus "great, large, much, abundant," major "greater," maximus "greatest;" Middle Irish mag, maignech "great, large;" M.Welsh meith "long, great"). Its main modern form is much (q.v.). Related: Mickleness.