Mongering among many

[muckefuck]

I had an Aha-Erlebnis last night while reading the etymological dictionary in bed to fall asleep (y'all always suspected as much, I know), connecting many to Menge for the first time. (At least, I think it was the first time--I have a bad habit these days of relearning things I once knew and have long since forgotten. It's one of the reasons why I'm making a note of this one.) Reading further (in both Chamber's and Kluge), I found that the same root also yields among and (Irish) go minic "often". But my hypothesis of a connexion to monger was not borne out. Instead, this seem to derive ultimately from the curious Greek word μάγγανον, which also underlies mangonel and the wonderfully obscure mangonism "the craft of pampering, trimming or setting out saleable things".