muchnessn.

a1398 J. Trevisa tr. Bartholomaeus Anglicus De Proprietatibus Rerum (BL Add. 27944) (1975) I. v. xli. 251 Ȝif þe mylte is mene, more drawinge to litilnes þan to mochenes, it tokeneþ to good complexioun.

1496 Treat. Fysshynge wyth Angle in Bk. St. Albans (rev. ed.) sig. iij^v The gogen is a good fisshe of the mochenes.

1572 J. Jones Bathes of Bathes Ayde ii. f. 17 By reason of the smalnesse or muchnesse of the same.

1615 A. Nixon Scourge Corrupt. 4 About the muchnesse of a two penny Pumpion.

1631 R. Bolton Instr. Right Comf. Affl. Consciences i. xiv. 287 It is not so much the muchnesse and measure of our sorrow, as the truth and heartinesse, which fits us for the promises and comforts of mercy.

a1903 W. M. Morris in Eng. Dial. Dict. (1903) IV. 185/2 [S. Pembrokeshire] A wonna do that muchness o' good to any wan. A little bit that muchness will do it.

1494 W. Hilton Scale of Perfection (de Worde) ii. xxxiv The endles mochenes of the loue of god.

1559 W. Baldwin et al. Myrroure for Magistrates James I. sig. xxxviii ^v Attaste no poyson..beware eke of to much, All kil through muchnes, sum with only touche.

1654 R. Whitlock Ζωοτομία 251 A whole Dictionary whereof would hold forth but Muchnesse of Nothingnesse.

1669 S. Pepys Diary 27 Mar. (1976) IX. 500 To bed, my head a little troubled with the muchness of business I have upon me at present.

1744 T. Eayre in W. C. Lukis Family Mem. W. Stukeley (1882) I. 368 [I] do fear the muchness of the worke will prevent it.

1863 N. Hawthorne Our Old Home I. 73 She imposes awe and respect by the muchness of her personality.

1887 Mind 12 15 We have relations of muchness and littleness between times,..as well as spaces.

1938 R. Graves Coll. Poems 41 The greatness, rareness, muchness,..of this precious only Endless world.

1978 N.Y. Times 30 Mar. c11/4 It's unbearable, in fact. I suppose it's all too much, but the fun is the muchness.

1674 N. Fairfax Treat. Bulk & Selvedge 21 After the nice brattling out of reality, into muchnesses and littlenesses, there falls to the share of this, as little as may be.

a1680 S. Charnock Several Disc. Existence of God (1682) 820 He will have a muchness of mercy for those that are prepared..by Faith and Repentance.

1893 Dublin Rev. Apr. 246 A muchness of going and coming between Rome and this country.

1908 Daily Chron. 26 Aug. 3/1 Though he conveys a sense of dissatisfaction with that artfully-concocted Muchness which partially enlightens the world, he does not really exhibit it.

1983 E. McClanahan Nat. Man (1984) v. 60 There framed in the window stood Oddles herself in all her monumental naked splendor..a true abundance of womanly charms, a plenitude, a muchness.

1993 Boulevard Spring 29 Buildings to the horizon, an accretion big beyond structure:..a human muchness encountering no bounds.

1728 C. Cibber Vanbrugh's Provok'd Husband i. i. 17 Man. I hope.., you and your good Woman agree still. J. Moody. Ay! ay! much of a Muchness.

1848 T. De Quincey Life & Adventures Goldsmith in N. Brit. Rev. May 202 Compare Addison's age..with Goldsmith's..the two ages will be found to offer ‘much of a muchness’.

1865 ‘L. Carroll’ Alice's Adventures in Wonderland vii. 109 That begins with an M, such as..muchness—you know you say things are ‘much of a muchness’—did you ever see..a drawing of a muchness?

1888 Sc. Leader 18 Feb. 4 Indeed, as our American cousins would say, there was ‘much of a muchness’ in the two orations.

1893 K. Simpson Yorks. Stories 255 Gifts seem to me much of a muchness. They are apt to create a sense of obligation.

1930 Times Lit. Suppl. 6 Mar. 175/1 Scotland apart, our island is much of a muchness, and offers far less diversity of stock than France or Germany.

1955 Times 21 June 17/1 The declines for the month in arrivals of basic materials and fuel..were much of a muchness with those last year.

1971 G. Gould Let. 10 Apr. in Sel. Lett. (1992) 143 Pieces from the later years, which, marvellous creations though they are, do sound a bit of a muchness harmonically.

1988 J. Brodsky To Urania 72 Though confessions dragged out by torture, like the ones in childhood, are of a muchness.