mikill

Icelandic

Etymology

From Old Norse mikill, from Proto-Germanic *mikilaz, from Proto-Indo-European *meǵh₂-.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key):

  Rhymes: -ɪːcɪtɬ

Adjective

mikill (comparative meiri, superlative mestur)

1. large in quantity or number
2. much
3. great

   Alexander mikli.

   Alexander the Great.

Inflection

Derived terms

• mikilmenni
• víðáttumikill

Old Norse

Alternative forms

• mykill

Etymology

From Proto-Germanic *mikilaz (“great, many”), from Proto-Indo-European *meǵh₂- (“big, great”). Cognate with Old English miċel, Old Saxon mikil, Old Dutch mikil, Old High German mihhil, Gothic 𐌼𐌹𐌺𐌹𐌻𐍃 (mikils).

Adjective

mikill (comparative meiri, superlative mestr)

1. great, tall of stature
2. great, large, in bulk or size

   áin var mikil ― the river was swollen

3. (of quantity) much
4. prominent

Inflection

This word seems to have a suppletive inflection, using another root in the comparative and superlative forms, than in the positive form (albeit one inherited from earlier Proto-Germanic). Note also the otherwise irregular nn-ending in the accusative singular masculine form (mikinn), as well as the t-ending in the nominative and accusative singular neuter forms (mikit).

Descendants

• Icelandic: mikill
• Faroese: mikil
• Norn: mikkel, mukkel
• Norwegian Nynorsk: mykjen, myken (-n from acc. mikinn)
• Old Swedish: mykil, mykin
  • Swedish: mycken (archaic)
• Old Danish: mikin
  • Danish: megen
    • Norwegian Bokmål: megen
• ⇒ Old Norse: mikit n
  • Icelandic: mikið
  • Faroese: mikið
  • Norwegian Nynorsk: mykje, myket; (dialectal) mykji, mikje
  • Norwegian Bokmål: mye
  • Old Swedish: mykit
    • Swedish: mycket n
  • Old Danish: mikit n
    • Danish: meget
      • Norwegian Bokmål: meget

References

• “mikill”, in Geir T. Zoëga (1910) A Concise Dictionary of Old Icelandic, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “meiri”, in Geir T. Zoëga (1910) A Concise Dictionary of Old Icelandic, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “mestr”, in Geir T. Zoëga (1910) A Concise Dictionary of Old Icelandic, Oxford: Clarendon Press