Definition of "much"

As it was, he did nothing with much zeal, but sport; and his time was otherwise trifled away, without benefit from books or anything else.

1817 (date written), [Jane Austen], Persuasion; published in Northanger Abbey: And Persuasion. […], volumes (please specify |volume=III or IV), London: John Murray, […], 20 December 1817 (indicated as 1818)

Unless matters take a nastier turn, neither side has much incentive to compromise.

2011 February 24, “Wisconsin and wider”, in The Economist

ye shall not nede to seke hym soo ferre sayd the Kynge / for as I here saye sir Launcelot will abyde me and yow in the Ioyous gard / and moche peple draweth vnto hym as I here saye(please add an English translation of this quotation)

1485, Sir Thomas Malory, chapter X, in Le Morte Darthur, book XX

When Jesus was come downe from the mountayne, moch people folowed him.

1526, [William Tyndale, transl.], The Newe Testamẽt […] (Tyndale Bible), [Worms, Germany: Peter Schöffer], Matthew ]

There wasn't much people about that day.

1897, Bram Stoker, Dracula, New York, N.Y.: Modern Library

They got so much things to say right now, they got so much things to say.

1977, Bob Marley (lyrics and music), “So Much Things to Say”

Thenne launcelot vnbarred the dore / and with his lyfte hand he held it open a lytel / so that but one man myghte come in attones / and soo there came strydyng a good knyghte a moche man and large / and his name was Colgreuaunce / of Gore / and he with a swerd strake at syr launcelot myȝtely and he put asyde the stroke(please add an English translation of this quotation)

1485, Sir Thomas Malory, “iiij”, in Le Morte Darthur, book XX

They stayed together during three dances, went out on to the terrace, explored wherever they were permitted to explore, paid two visits to the buffet, and enjoyed themselves much in the same way as if they had been school-children surreptitiously breaking loose from an assembly of grown-ups.

1909, Archibald Marshall [pseudonym; Arthur Hammond Marshall], “A Court Ball”, in The Squire’s Daughter, New York, N.Y.: Dodd, Mead and Company, published 1919, page 9

I can’t lie (I miss you much). Watching every day that goes by (I miss you much).

2008, “Right Now (Na Na Na)” (track 1), in Freedom, performed by Akon

Tangling with Ziv, Cameron caught him with a flailing elbow, causing the Israeli defender to go down a little easily. However, the referee was in no doubt, much to the displeasure of the home fans.

2011 October 20, Michael da Silva, “Stoke 3-0 Macc Tel-Aviv”, in BBC Sport

From the ground, Colombo’s port does not look like much. Those entering it are greeted by wire fences, walls dating back to colonial times and security posts. For mariners leaving the port after lonely nights on the high seas, the delights of the B52 Night Club and Stallion Pub lie a stumble away.

2013 June 8, “The new masters and commanders”, in The Economist, volume 407, number 8839, page 52