Þriðjudagur 27. 12. 11.

Ég hef áður minnst á vefsíðuna Wordsmith.org þar sem sagt er frá orðum á ensku og þau skýrð fimm daga vikunnar. Þessi vika er helguð archaic eða fornum orðum. Mánudaginn 26. desember mátti lesa á síðunni:

mickle

PRONUNCIATION:

(MIK-uhl)

 Þýðing:

noun: A large amount.
adjective: Great, large.
adverb: Much.

 Orðsifjar:

From Old English micel (much). Ultimately from the Indo-European root meg- (great), which is also the source of magnificent, maharajah, mahatma, master, mayor, maestro, magnate, magistrate, maximum, and magnify. Earliest documented use: 9th c.

Athugasemd:

The word appears in the proverb "Many a little makes a mickle" and sometimes in its corrupted (and meaningless) form: "Many a mickle makes a muckle."

 Notkun:

"While blessed with an abundance of natural beauty and resources, Chatham County is also burdened with the task of dealing with a mickle of vegetative waste."
Robert Drewry and Virginia Lamb; County Develops Yard Waste Program; Public Works Magazine (Chicago, Illinois); May 2000.