myriad

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English [edit]

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Etymology [edit]

From French myriade, from Late Latin myriadis (genitive of myrias), from Ancient Greek μυριάδος (myriados), genitive of μυριάς (myrias, number of 10,000), from μύριος (myrios, numberless, countless, infinite).

Pronunciation [edit]

  • (UK) IPA: /ˈmɪɹiad/, /ˈmɪɹɪəd/
  • (US) IPA: /ˈmɪ.ɹi.æd/, /ˈmɪ.ɹi.əd/; X-SAMPA: /"mI.ri.{d/, /"mI.ri.@d/

Noun [edit]

myriad (plural myriads)

  1. (now historical) Ten thousand; 10,000. [from 16th c.]
  2. A countless number or multitude (of specified things). [from 16th c.]
    Earth hosts a myriad of animals.

Usage notes [edit]

Used as an adjective (see below), 'myriad' requires neither an article before it nor a preposition after. Because of this, some consider the usage described in sense 2 above, where 'myriad' acts as part of a nominal (or noun) group (that is, "a myriad of animals"), to be tautological.

Translations [edit]

Adjective [edit]

myriad (not comparable)

  1. (modifying a singular noun) Multifaceted, having innumerable elements. [from 18th c.]
    • 1931, William Faulkner, Sanctuary, Vintage 1993, p. 131:
      one night he would be singing at the barred window and yelling down out of the soft myriad darkness of a May night; the next night he would be gone [...].
    • 2011 April 6–19, Kara Krekeler, "Researchers at Washington U. have 'itch' to cure problem", West End Word, volume 40, number 7, page 8:
      "As a clinician, it's a difficult symptom to treat," Cornelius said. "The end symptom may be the same, but what's causing it may be myriad."
  2. (modifying a plural noun) Great in number; innumerable, multitudinous. [from 18th c.]
    Earth hosts myriad animals.

Translations [edit]

See also [edit]


Swedish [edit]

Noun [edit]

myriad c

  1. a myriad

Declension [edit]

References [edit]