inasmuch, adv.
(ɪnəzˈmʌtʃ)
[orig. three words in as much (in northern ME. in als mikel), subsequently sometimes written as two words, in asmuch, and now (esp. since 17th c.) as one.]
I. In phrase inasmuch as.
1. In so far as, to such a degree as, in proportion as, according as.
| a 1300 Cursor M. 19596 Sua aght all preistes mar and less, In als mikel als in þaim es. c 1380 Wyclif Serm. Sel. Wks. II. 206 Þe popis lawes in þis mater ben litil worþ but inasmyche as þei ben groundid of Goddis lawe or of resoun. 1526 Tindale Matt. xxv. 40 In as moche as [Ags. Gosp. swa lange swa; Wyclif as long as] ye have done it vnto won of the leest of these my brethren; ye have done it to me. 1577 Test. 12 Patriarchs (1604) 124 In as much as his mind is bent unto righteousness, he putteth away naughtiness. 1711 Fingall MSS. in 10th Rep. Hist. MSS. Comm. App. v. 112 We are bound, inasmuch as it lyes in our power, to make satisfaction. 1836–7 Sir W. Hamilton Metaph. ii. (1859) 32 God is only God inasmuch as he is the Moral Governor of a Moral World. |
2. In that; in view of the fact that; seeing that; considering that; on the ground or for the reason that; since, because.
| c 1386 Chaucer Nun's Pr. T. 601, I haue to yow, quod he, ydoon trespas In as muche [v.r. moche] as I maked yow aferd Whan I yow hente. c 1450 Lonelich Grail xliii. 461 For In as Moche as God he was, he Ros Aȝen thorwgh his Owne Gras. 1545 Brinklow Complaynt 3 b, Inasmoch as there is no powr but of God. 1557 N.T. (Genev.) Ep. *iij, Euery man might fynde him in him selfe: in asmuche as we are all susteined and conserued by his vertue that dwelleth in vs. 1607 Hieron Wks. I. 193 He hath no iust cause to pleade against God; in as much as the conscience of his owne deserts will stop his mouth. 1771 Wesley Serm. I. i. §5 Inasmuch as ‘he was delivered for our sins’. 1818 Cruise Digest (ed. 2) IV. 476 The recitals in the indenture of assignment were false, inasmuch as there never was any indenture of mortgage. 1870 Dickens E. Drood iii, I am unable to reply that I am much the better for seeing you, Pussy, inasmuch as I see nothing of you. |
II. † 3. Without as: In an equal or like degree, likewise. Obs.
| 1727 Swift Circumcision E. Curll Wks. 1778 VII. 236 The wisest man that ever was, and inasmuch the richest, beyond all peradventure was a Jew. |