Meaning

The more the merrier

Categorised in: John Heywood ·A List Of 720 English Proverbs, With Their Meanings Explained

What's the meaning of the phrase 'The more the merrier'?

The more people who are present, the better an occasion or situation (especially a party) will be.

Truth is stranger than fiction - caption

What’s the origin of the phrase ‘The more the merrier’?

The proverbial saying ‘the more the merrier’ is first found in John Heywood’s 1546 glossary A Dialogue conteinyng the nomber in effect of all the Prouerbes in the Englishe tongue:

Haue among you blynde harpers (sayd I.)
The mo the merier.

Heywood was well known at the Tudor court and was a relative of Sir Thomas More, with whom he performed plays. It doesn’t seem likely from the context that Heywood was making a punning reference to More, but his text in Proverbs is frequently obscure so it is possible.

“The more the merrier” in printed material over time

Source: Google Books Ngrams (1800–2020).