An Etymological Dictionary of the German Language/Annotated/manch

by Friedrich Kluge

manch, adjective, ‘many a,’ from Middle High German manec (g), Old High German manag, adjective, ‘much, many a.’ The g has been preserved in Modern High German mannig-falt;. the change of g to ch in this word, which is first found in Modern High German, is due to Low German influence. Modern High German manec, Old High German manag, ‘much’; akin to Gothic manags, ‘much,’ so too Anglo-Saxon monig, English many, Old Saxon maneg, Dutch menig. From the Teutonic standpoint, the adjective may be derived from Gothic and Old High German mana-, ‘man, person,’ which originally always occurred in compounds; compare Gothic ga-man, neuter, ‘fellow-man,’ mana-sêþs, ‘mankind,’ Old High German manaheit, ‘valour,’ manalîhho, ‘likeness,’ &c. In that case, since the suffix ga-, equivalent to Greek κο-, Latin o, denotes ‘providing with something,’ the primary meaning of Gothic manags may have been ‘to provide with people.’ Yet Old Irish menice, ‘frequent,’ and Old Slovenian mănogŭ, ‘much,’ point to a primary word probably unconnected with Gothic and Old High German mana-, ‘person.’