mickle

/'mikl/ Cách viết khác : (muckle) /'mʌkl/

Thân thiện

A farmer gathered a mickle of ripe apples from his orchard.

Definition

1. Noun:
   • A large quantity or amount: "Mickle" refers to a considerable, often unspecified, large number or extent of something. It is an archaic or dialectal term, primarily found in Scottish English and older texts.

Usage

• Noun: Typically used in the construction "a mickle of" followed by the thing being quantified, though it can also stand alone to imply a large amount. It is a literary or regional word, not common in modern standard English.

Examples

• Noun:
  • He earned a mickle of money from his investments. (This means he earned a large amount of money.)
  • The old proverb teaches that "many a mickle makes a muckle," meaning many small amounts accumulate into a large one.

Advanced Usage

• The word is most famously used in the proverbial phrase "Many a mickle makes a muckle." This is a Scots proverb meaning that many small amounts accumulate to make a large total. (Note: This is a fixed idiom; 'mickle' and 'muckle' are near-synonyms here, both meaning a large amount.)

Variants and Related Words

• Muckle (noun/adjective): A variant form, also meaning a large amount. It is used interchangeably with "mickle" in some dialects, especially in the proverb mentioned above.

Synonyms

• A lot: A large number or amount.
• A great deal: A large quantity.
• A slew: A large number (informal).
• Plenty: A large or sufficient amount.

Notes on Meaning

• Archaic/Dialectal: "Mickle" is not standard in contemporary English. Its use is largely confined to proverbs, historical contexts, or regional speech (especially Scottish and Northern English dialects).
• Common Confusion: In the proverb "Many a mickle makes a muckle," there is a longstanding folk etymology that 'mickle' means 'little' and 'muckle' means 'much'. However, both words historically mean 'large'. The phrase is a tautology meaning "many a large amount makes a large amount," which has been reinterpreted over time to make practical sense about accumulation. For learners, it is safest to understand the proverb as a fixed expression about saving small amounts.

Học thuật

Noun

1. (often followed by `of') a large number or amount or extent
   • a batch of letters
   • a deal of trouble
   • a lot of money
   • he made a mint on the stock market
   • see the rest of the winners in our huge passel of photos
   • it must have cost plenty
   • a slew of journalists
   • a wad of money

Từ đồng nghĩa

• batch