An Etymological Dictionary of the German Language/Annotated/viel

by Friedrich Kluge

viel, adverb and adjective, ‘much,’ from the equivalent Middle High German vil, vile, Old High German filu, substantive and adverb; properly the neuter of a pre-Teutonic adjective felu-, of which, however, the Old Teutonic dialects have preserved only scanty relics; compare Gothic filu (and the genitive filaus, adverb, ‘by much’), Anglo-Saxon feolu (feala), Dutch veel, Old Saxon filu, ‘much.’ The Teutonic adjective filu, from *fëlu-, is based on Aryan adjective pelu (polú-), from which Sanscrit purú, Old Persian paru, Greek πολύ-, Old Irish il, ‘much,’ are derived; so too Latin pollere, ‘to be strong.’ The root of these cognates is the same as in voll, which see. The disappearance of the old adjective felu- was due chiefly to the cognates of mancher (Gothic manags); yet the other Aryan languages use the adjective only sparingly. —