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Many is a great word for its ambiguity. You needn't know the actual number and you're still fine to say many. It lets you speak without knowing, or focus on the main idea without getting lost in the details.

But, still, how many is many?—especially in the construction "many of", which defines a total population, or when that total population can be assumed/is defined with a different construction (e.g. "many Americans").

Certainly it is relative. "Many people in my class" is a very different number than "many people in this country", because the total population for my class is much less than the total population of this country.

Is many proportional, then?, relative to the overall total? Is there a certain percentage where it begins to make sense?

NOAD defines the noun form as a majority,

noun (as plural noun the many) the majority of people: music for the many;

but there seems to be no need for more than half in the adjective's definition,

det., pronoun, & adjective (more, most) a large number of

But does many still need to refer to more than 30%? 10%? 1%?

Or is it relative to something else—not to some total but to a more ordinary amount?

Perhaps the underlying (or secondary?) question is whether many presumes a denominator.

It seems that when working with smaller total populations, many is proportional, but as the total population gets bigger, many can refer to a smaller percentage. As the overall total grows, the amount that qualifies as many grows at a smaller rate.

I recognize that I am perhaps attempting to define the indefinable—yet we all have a working definition of what constitutes many, and I would not be surprised if it is generally shared definition. Let's record it.

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    I appreciate all the consideration you've clearly put into your question, but I think in the final analysis, many is indefinite. If only because people use it when they want to be indefinite. Still, I'll watch the answers to this Q with interest.
    – Dan Bron
    Commented Jul 22, 2016 at 18:02
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    @DanBron I totally recognize that, but I do think that when I say 'many' to you, based on the context, a rough number comes to mind, and it probably is in the ballpark of what I am thinking. Maybe though it is so specific to context that no rule is discernible.
    – Unrelated
    Commented Jul 22, 2016 at 18:06
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    LeBron James will be shorter (smaller) than Shaquille O'Neal but he is far taller than most of Americans. How short is short? Or how tall is tall?
    – user140086
    Commented Jul 22, 2016 at 18:06
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    @Rathony Certainly it is relative, but when you say that Lebron is short it is apparent to an informed audience that you are speaking within the context of NBA players. Within that context, shorter pretty clearly means less than average. I could find the average of NBA players right now and give you a precise height for this local definition of short vs tall.
    – Unrelated
    Commented Jul 22, 2016 at 18:09
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    @DanBron, Rathony Well everyone knows how long the proverbial piece of string is: twice half its length
    – BladorthinTheGrey
    Commented Jul 22, 2016 at 18:51

2 Answers 2

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'Many' as a pronoun and adjective has no definite or precise value, but when you say 'there are many people in my class' and when you say 'there are many people in my country' it all depends on how you look at it psychologically.

Let's assume you say to a person that does not know the meaning of 'country' and 'class' that “there are many people in my country and many people in my class”, the person has no knowledge of the size of a country compared to the size of a class. Therefore, the person will treat them alike in quantity.

English is like that person that has no knowledge of what a country or a class is, therefore, treats them alike but it depends on how you see subject of the sentence which is in this case 'class' compared to 'country'. In a nutshell, its actually psychological quantity and extent at which the term 'many' is, and it depends on how you look at it.

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Many designates "...a large but indefinite number" (OED). Ordinarily it implies, for me, a (statistically) significant proportion of a total population but fewer than 50%. If more than 50% are inolved I would say 'most' rather than 'many'.

'The many', is a special usage, used to compare and contrast with 'the few'.

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    Many people would disagree with you.
    – Hot Licks
    Commented Jul 23, 2016 at 1:55
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    'many' can also mean ”more than one might expect”. 'many people enjoy the taste of spoiled meat and consider it a delicacy. Wouldn't mean more than half the people do, or even a sizable percentage, just significantly more than one might think do.
    – John Meacham
    Commented Jul 23, 2016 at 2:28
  • @HotLicks - 'many', or 'most' people...
    – Dan
    Commented Jul 23, 2016 at 7:57
  • @JohnMeacham - "...just significantly more than one might think do". Absolutely!
    – Dan
    Commented Jul 23, 2016 at 7:58
  • It also doesn't have to be statistically significant, really. “There are many left-handed dwarfs in the US” can be perfectly true even if left-handed dwarfs probably make up less than 0.01% of the population. How many many is in a given context relies on an understanding of how big a part of the total the category in question is likely to take up.
    – Janus Bahs Jacquet
    Commented Jul 23, 2016 at 10:34

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