many a one
noun
Many a person, many a thing. Also (poetic ), postmodifying a plural noun: †many ( obsolete rare ).
- N.E.D. (1905) labels this use ‘now chiefly colloquial’; it appears to be regional or literary in 20th-cent. texts..
Origin
Early 16th century; earliest use found in Alexander Barclay (c1484–1552), poet and clergyman. Perhaps from many one pron., after sense A. 1b.