myriad

English

WOTD – 5 September 2009

**English numbers ^(edit)**
		100,000^{[a], [b]}
← 9,000	^{[a], [b], [c]} ← 9,999	10,000	11,000 →	100,000 → ^{[a], [b]}
		1,000
Cardinal: ten thousand, myriad Ordinal: ten-thousandth, myriadth Multiplier: tenthousandfold, myriadfold Collective: myriad Metric collective prefix: myria- Metric fractional prefix: dimi- Number of years: decamillennium

Etymology

From French myriade, from Late Latin myriadem (accusative of myrias), from Ancient Greek μυριάς (muriás, “number of 10,000”), from μυρίος (muríos, “numberless, countless, infinite”).

Pronunciation

(UK, US) IPA^(key): /ˈmɪɹi.æd/, /ˈmɪɹi.əd/
Audio (AU) (file)

Noun

myriad (plural myriads)

(historical) Ten thousand; 10,000 [from 16th c.]
A countless number or multitude (of specified things) [from 16th c.]
Earth hosts a myriad of animals.
- 1834, L[etitia] E[lizabeth] L[andon], Francesca Carrara. […], volume III, London: Richard Bentley, […], (successor to Henry Colburn), OCLC 630079698, page 239:
  A myriad of beginnings to her intended discourse darted into her mind; but, as is usual in such cases, she chose the one the very worst suited to her purpose. "I never intend to marry," said she, in a faltering voice.
- 1914, Henry Graham Dakyns, 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.

Related terms

tens of thousands

Translations

ten thousand — See also translations at 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 (yue), 万 (maan⁶)
Mandarin: 萬／万 (zh) (wàn)
Dutch: myriade (nl) f
Esperanto: miriado
Finnish: myriadi
French: myriade (fr) f
German: Myriade (de) f
Greek: μυριάδα (el) f (myriáda)
Ancient: μυριάς f (muriás)
Hebrew: רבבה‎ (he) (revava), (biblical) ריבוא‎ (ribo)
Japanese: 万 (ja) (man)
Korean: 만 (ko) (man)
Latin: myrias
Malayalam: അയുതം (ml) (ayutaṃ)
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)
Slovak: myriada f
Spanish: miríada (es) f
Swedish: myriad (sv) c
Tagalog: hindi mabilang
Thai: หมื่น (th) (mʉ̀ʉn)
Turkish: tümen (tr)
Ukrainian: міріада (uk) f (miriada)
Vietnamese: vạn (vi), muôn (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 (cs) 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
Icelandic: mýgrútur m, urmull f, ótal n, ógrynni n, aragrúi (is) m
Italian: miriade (it) f
Japanese: 八百万 (yaoyorozu)
Ladino: alay m
Maori: tuauriuri, takitini, tini ngerongero, tini ngero, tini, mano tini, mano tinitini
Old Church Slavonic: тьма f (tĭma)
Polish: mnóstwo (pl), masa (pl), bezlik (pl) m
Portuguese: miríade (pt) f
Russian: мириа́да (ru) f (miriáda), тьма (ru) f (tʹma)
Serbo-Croatian: mirijada (sh) f
Slovak: myriada 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)
Ukrainian: незліченна кількість m (nezličenna kilʹkistʹ), безліч (uk) (bezlič)
Welsh: myrdd m, myrddiwn m

Adjective

myriad (not comparable)

(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."
(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) (antʿiv), անհամար (hy) (anhamar), անհաշիվ (hy) (anhašiv), բյուր (hy) (byur)
Bulgarian: безчетен (bg) (bezčeten)
Estonian: loendamatu
Finnish: lukematon (fi)
French: nombreux (fr)
Georgian: მირიადი (miriadi)
German: unzählig (de)
Hebrew: רבבה‎ (he) f (r"vavah)
Latin: permulti m pl
Maori: tini, tinitini
Polish: niezliczony (pl), nieprzeliczony, nieprzebrany
Russian: мириады (ru) (miriady)
Swedish: otalig (sv), oräknelig (sv)

Swedish

Noun

myriad c

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)