Umfangsmikið

Umfangsmikið is an Icelandic adjective meaning extensive or large in scope. It is used to describe things that cover a wide range, involve many components, or require substantial resources. The word often appears in formal or technical writing, such as academic, policy, or media texts.

Etymology and form: Umfangsmikið is a compound likely formed from the German noun Umfang (meaning extent or scope) combined with the Icelandic suffix -mikið, meaning “much” or “large.” It is primarily attested in contexts where a term for broad coverage is needed, and its use is more common in written Icelandic than in everyday speech.

Usage and examples: The term is typically applied to projects, datasets, reports, or bodies of work with broad coverage. Common collocations include umfangsmikið verkefni (a large-scale project) and umfangsmikið gagnasafn (a large dataset). Example sentences include: Rannsóknin var Umfangsmikið verkefni sem krafðist margra ára vinnu. Skýrslan er umfangsmikið gagna- og meðferðarskjöl sem fjalla umfjöllun mikið í smáatriðum.

Related terms: In other languages, similar concepts are expressed by German umfangreich, Swedish omfattande, Norwegian/ Danish omfattende, or English extensive. As a neologism in Icelandic, umfangsmikið sits among technical terms that blend loanwords with productive Icelandic morphology to convey scope and scale.