More

How to spell more

4 letters · 1 syllable

How to pronounce more

What does more mean?

1. determinerA greater or additional amount or number of something.
2. adverbTo a greater extent or degree.

More in a sentence

• determiner

  The project will need more funding before the deadline.

• adverb

  This route is more direct than the motorway.

• determiner

  We should order more chairs for the meeting room.

• adverb

  He has grown more confident since the promotion.

Where does more come from?

Language of origin: Germanic

This is a native English word descending from the Old English mara, meaning 'greater' or 'larger', which served as the comparative of micel, the ancestor of 'much'. It traces back to a Proto-Germanic root maizon, sharing ancestry with the Old Norse meiri and the Dutch meer, all carrying the basic idea of a greater quantity or degree. Over the centuries it settled into its modern roles as a comparative of 'much' and 'many', and it also pairs naturally with 'most', which comes from the same family. The spelling has stayed remarkably stable, with the final silent 'e' a relic of older English orthography that softened and lengthened the preceding vowel. In non-rhotic British speech it sounds identical to 'moor' and the surname 'Moore', which is the main spelling pitfall for an otherwise simple word.

How the word is built

• more (from Old English mara: greater, comparative form)