myriad

English

WOTD – 5 September 2009

Etymology

From (deprecated template usage) [etyl] French myriade, from (deprecated template usage) [etyl] Late Latin myriadis (genitive of myrias), from (deprecated template usage) [etyl] Ancient Greek μυριάδος (muriádos), genitive of μυριάς (muriás, “number of 10,000”), from μυρίος (muríos, “numberless, countless, infinite”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈmɪɹi.æd/, /ˈmɪɹi.əd/

• Audio (AU):

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Noun

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.

   • Xenophon, Cyropaedia, Book I:

     How far he surpassed them all may be felt if we remember that no Scythian, although the Scythians are reckoned by their myriads, has ever succeeded in dominating a foreign nation ...

Usage notes

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

ten thousand — see also ten thousand

• Afrikaans: magdom
• Albanian: pafundësi (sq)
• Amharic: እልፍ (′əlf)
• Aramaic:

  Classical Syriac: ܪܒܘܬܐ f (rebbūṯā)

  Jewish Babylonian Aramaic: רִבּוּתָא f (ribbūṯā), רִבּוֹתָא f (ribbōṯā)

• Armenian: բյուր (hy) (byur)
• Azerbaijani: saysız-hesabsız
• Catalan: miríada f
• Chinese:

  Cantonese: 萬／万 (yue) (maan⁶), 万 (maan⁶)

  Mandarin: 萬／万 (zh) (wàn), 万 (zh) (wàn)

• Dutch: myriade (nl) f
• Finnish: myriadi
• French: myriade (fr) f
• German: Myriade (de) f
• Greek: μυριάς (el) f (myriás)
• Hebrew: רבבה (he) (revava), (biblical) ריבוא (ribo)
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Japanese: 万 (ja) (まん, man)
• Korean: 만 (ko) (man)
• Latin: myrias
• Malayalam: അയുതം (ml) (ayutaṁ)
• Mongolian: түм (mn) (tüm)
• Occitan: miriada f
• Old Church Slavonic: тьма f (tĭma)
• Persian: بیور (fa) (biwar)
• Polish: miriada f
• Portuguese: miríade (pt) f
• Russian: мириа́да (ru) f (miriáda)
• Spanish: miríada (es) f
• Swedish: myriad (sv) c
• Tagalog: hindi mabilang
• Thai: หมื่น (th) (mʉ̀ʉn)
• Turkish: tümen (tr)
• Vietnamese: vạn (vi)
• Welsh: deng mil

vast diversity or number

• Aramaic:

  Classical Syriac: ܪܒܘܬܐ f (rebbūṯā)

  Jewish Babylonian Aramaic: רִבּוּתָא f (ribbūṯā), רִבּוֹתָא f (ribbōṯā)

• Armenian: բյուր (hy) (byur)
• Catalan: miríada f
• Czech: myriáda f
• Danish: myriade (da) c
• Dutch: een groot aantal, myriade (nl) f
• Esperanto: miriado
• Estonian: müriaad
• Finnish: suunnaton määrä, myriadi, lukematon määrä (fi)
• French: myriade (fr) f
• German: Unmenge (de) f, Myriaden (de) f pl, Unzahl (de) f, Vielzahl (de) f
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Icelandic: mýgrútur m, urmull (is) f, ótal n, ógrynni n, aragrúi (is) m
• Italian: miriade (it) f
• Maori: tuauriuri, takitini, tini ngerongero, tini ngero, tini, mano tini, mano tinitini
• Old Church Slavonic: тьма f (tĭma)
• Polish: mnóstwo (pl), masa (pl)
• Portuguese: miríade (pt) f
• Russian: мириа́да (ru) f (miriáda), тьма (ru) f (tʹma)
• Serbo-Croatian: mirijada (sh) f
• Spanish: miríada (es) f
• Swedish: myriad (sv) c, otal (sv) n, otalig mängd c
• Turkish: çok büyük sayı, pek çok (tr), (colloquial) bir sürü (tr), sayısız (tr)
• Welsh: myrdd m, myrddiwn m

Adjective

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, 40 (7), p. 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.

   • 2013 September 28, Kenan Malik, "London Is Special, but Not That Special," New York Times (retrieved 28 September 2013):

     Driven by a perceived political need to adopt a hard-line stance, Mr. Cameron’s coalition government has imposed myriad new restrictions, the aim of which is to reduce net migration to Britain to below 100,000.

Translations

great in number

• Armenian: բյուրավոր (hy) (byuravor), անթիվ (hy) (antʻiv), անհամար (hy) (anhamar), անհաշիվ (hy) (anhašiv), բյուր (hy) (byur)
• Estonian: loendamatu
• Finnish: lukematon (fi)
• French: nombreux (fr)
• Georgian: მირიადი (miriadi)
• German: unzählig (de)
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Hebrew: רבבה (he) f (r"vavah)
• Latin: permulti m pl
• Maori: tini, tinitini
• Polish: niezliczony (pl)
• Russian: мириады (ru) (miriady)
• Swedish: otalig (sv), oräknelig (sv)

See also

• plethora

---

Swedish

Noun

myriad c

1. a myriad

Declension

Declension of myriad
	Singular		Plural
	Indefinite	Definite	Indefinite	Definite
Nominative	myriad	myriaden	myriader	myriaderna
Genitive	myriads	myriadens	myriaders	myriadernas

References

• myriad in Svenska Akademiens ordlista (SAOL)