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many

det. · pron. · n.
US //ˈmɛni// UK //mˈɛni// many
  1. 1 comparing numbers (det.)
    A2 Elementary

    used with words like 'as' or 'so' to compare or emphasize a number.

    used in comparative or emphatic constructions such as 'as many as' or 'so many' to indicate a specific or surprising quantity.

    Example

    I don't have as many books as you do.

    Example

    The stadium was packed with so many fans that the local authorities had to close the surrounding streets for safety.

    Usage

    Commonly appears in the patterns 'as many as', 'so many', and 'too many'.

  2. 2 a large number of people/things (pron.)
    A2 Elementary

    a large number of people or things, used without naming them again.

    functions as a pronoun representing a large, indefinite number of people or things previously mentioned or understood.

    Example

    Some students passed the test, but many failed.

    Example

    While a few critics praised the film's visual style, many found the plot to be derivative and poorly paced.

    Usage

    Takes a plural verb.
    • many people
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  1. 3 the majority of people (n.)
    B2 Upper Intermediate Formal

    the majority of people in a society.

    the great majority of people; the masses or the general population.

    Example

    The needs of the many should come before the needs of the few.

    Example

    The policy was designed to benefit the many rather than protecting the interests of a small, wealthy elite.

    Usage

    Usually preceded by 'the'.
    • the masses
    • the majority
    • the few
Origin

From Middle English many, mani, moni, from Old English maniġ, moniġ, maneġ (“many”), from Proto-West Germanic manag, from Proto-Germanic managaz (“many; much”), from Proto-Indo-European menegʰ-, mengʰ- (“many, sufficient”) or Proto-Indo-European *méǵh₂- (“big, great”). Cognates Cognate with Scots mony (“many”), Yola many (“many”), North Frisian manag, manig, mäning (“many”), Alemannic German meng (“many”), Central Franconian mannich, männich (“many”), Dutch menig (“many”), German manch (“many, some”), Low German männich, männig (“many”), Luxembourgish muench, munch, munnech (“many”), Danish mangen (“many”), Faroese mangur (“many”), Icelandic margur (“many”), Norwegian Bokmål and Norwegian Nynorsk mang, mange (“many”), Swedish mången (“many”), Gothic 𐌼𐌰𐌽𐌰𐌲𐍃 (manags, “many; much”), French maint (“many”); also Cornish menowgh (“frequent, often”), Irish minic (“frequently, often”), Manx mennick (“frequent, often”), Scottish Gaelic minig (“frequent”), Welsh mynych (“frequent, often”), Belarusian мно́га (mnóha, “many; much”), Bulgarian and Russian мно́го (mnógo, “many; much”), Czech mnohý (“many, numerous”), Macedonian мно́гу (mnógu, “very; many; much”), Polish mnogi (“numerous; plural”), Serbo-Croatian мно̏гӣ, mnȍgī (“many; much, long; large, numerous”), Ukrainian мно́гий (mnóhyj, “many, multiple”). The noun is from Middle English manye, menye, from Old English manigeo, menigu (“company, multitude, host”), from Proto-West Germanic managu, managī, from Proto-Germanic managō, *managį̄ (“multitude”), from the same root as the determiner. Cognate with Middle Low German menige, menie, menje (“multitude”), Russian много (mnogo), Serbo-Croatian mnogo.

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