Meanings
- uncountableGreatness; bigness (in any sense); largeness; size.
[...] and for to show also the wonderful mickleness of hatred that thou hadst to my sin which I had made.
1995, Walter Hilton, The Goad of Love1 more example
"There is in Britain a fen of unmeasured mickleness that begins from the river Granta, not far from the city which is called Grantaceaster.
1905, Stopford Augustus Brooke, The history of early English literature
Origin
- Old Englishmiċelnes“greatness, size, mass, quantity, multitude, abundance, magnificence, great deed”
- Middle Englishmikelnes
- Englishmickleness
From Middle English mikelnes, an unpalatalised variant (due to influence from Old Norse mikill) of Middle English michelnesse, from Old English miċelnes (“greatness, size, mass, quantity, multitude, abundance, magnificence, great deed”), equivalent to mickle + -ness. Cognate with Old High German michilnessi (“greatness, magnitude”). See also muchness.
More words from Middle English, Old English
Full word history & related roots →Cite this entry
mickleness. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/mickleness
“mickleness.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/mickleness. Accessed November 2, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “mickleness,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/mickleness.
Source: mickleness on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.