From Old English 'micel' (great), from PIE *megh2- (great) — hidden cousin of 'mega,' 'magnificent,' and 'maharaja.'
A large amount or to a great extent.
From Middle English 'muche,' from Old English 'mycel' or 'micel' (great, large, much), from Proto-Germanic *mikilaz, from PIE *meǵh₂- (great, large). The same PIE root produced Latin 'magnus' (great), Greek 'mégas' (great, large), Sanskrit 'mahā-' (great), and Gothic 'mikils.' The phonological transformation from 'micel' to 'much' — through palatalization of the velar '-c-' before a front vowel, then the '-el' suffix dropping — mirrors