myriad

noun myr·i·ad \ ˈmir-ē-əd \

|Updated on: 20 Aug 2018

Usage guide: Is myriad a noun?

Examples: myriad in a Sentence

Editor's Note: Did You Know?

Definition of myriad

1 : ten thousand

2 : a great number

a myriad of ideas

See myriad defined for English-language learners

See myriad defined for kids

myriad was our Word of the Day on 10/27/2016. Hear the podcast!

Is myriad a noun?

Recent criticism of the use of myriad as a noun, both in the plural form myriads and in the phrase a myriad of, seems to reflect a mistaken belief that the word was originally and is still properly only an adjective. As the entries here show, however, the noun is in fact the older form, dating to the 16th century. The noun myriad has appeared in the works of such writers as Milton (plural myriads) and Thoreau (a myriad of), and it continues to occur frequently in reputable English. There is no reason to avoid it.

Examples of myriad in a Sentence

Mr. McCullough hails Adams for being uncannily prescient … foreseeing a myriad of developments, from the difficulty of defeating the British … to the divisive consequences of slavery. —Michiko Kakutani, New York Times, 22 May 2001
Sectarian Protestantism reinforced both American individualism and the tendency of the society to be self-organizing in a myriad of voluntary associations and communities. —Francis Fukuyama, Atlantic, May 1999
Out in the barrios, under the nipa palms, he listened to the myriads of humming cicadas and the call of the geckos. —Nina FitzPatrick, Fables of the Irish Intelligentsia, 1991
To read Marie Corelli, you had to be able to follow several hundred printed words at a time, and there were myriads in England who were up to it. —Hugh Kenner, A Sinking Island, 1987
… laced his fingers behind his head and stared at the myriads of tiny colored dots that make up darkness. —John Steinbeck, East of Eden, 1952
There are a myriad of possibilities.
the car can be outfitted with a myriad of options

Recent Examples of myriad from the Web

The scene is awful for a myriad of terrible, obvious reasons.

— refinery29.com, "Handmaid’s Tale," 20 June 2018
The investigation led to a settlement agreement, adopted by a judge two years later, which called for a myriad of reforms to police policies, training and oversight.

— maxine bernstein, OregonLive.com, "Family of man fatally shot by police in Portland homeless shelter files federal lawsuit," 23 May 2018
The most popular time of the year to get engaged is between Thanksgiving and Valentine's Day, but presenting a ring on the first Monday of May fits the bill for a myriad of reasons.

— carrie goldberg, Harper's BAZAAR, "2 Chainz Proposed To His Girlfriend Natasha Ward on the Met Gala Red Carpet," 8 May 2018
And the myriad of sauces give you so many chances for a great meal.

— kathryn gregory, The Courier-Journal, "It's National Fried Chicken Day! See our top staff picks in Louisville," 6 July 2018
So people started injecting more details about their absences, about the myriad of nonwork things that demand their time, to invoke some understanding from the senders eager for their response.

— marina koren, The Atlantic, "The Most Extreme Out-of-Office Message," 11 June 2018
This wasn't like the myriad other product teasers, all cloaked in darkness and shadow.

— ron amadeo, Ars Technica, "Lenovo’s all-screen smartphone was all talk," 5 June 2018
Victories by the myriad of opposing forces pursuing him that would erode his solid base of support could change today’s optimism that Republicans will retain their majorities in both houses of congress.

— richard greene, star-telegram, "Republicans think they have November in the bag. Do they?," 24 May 2018
Both were under the watchful eyes of a myriad of Major League Baseball scouts, equipped with radar guns recording every pitch.

— matt doherty, BostonGlobe.com, "In chilly temps, no-hitters ruled Week 1," 18 Apr. 2018

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'myriad.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Did You Know?

In English, the "ten thousand" sense of myriad mostly appears in references to Ancient Greece, such as the following from English historian Connop Thirwall's History of Greece: "4000 men from Peloponnesus had fought at Thermopylae with 300 myriads." More often, English speakers use myriad in the broad sense—both as a singular noun ("a myriad of tiny particles") and a plural noun ("myriads of tiny particles"). Myriad can also serve as an adjective meaning "innumerable" ("myriad particles"). While some usage commentators criticize the noun use, it's been firmly established in English since the 16th century, and in fact is about 200 years older than the adjective. Myriad comes from Greek myrias, which in turn comes from myrioi, meaning "countless" or "ten thousand."

Origin and Etymology of myriad

Greek myriad-, myrias, from myrioi countless, ten thousand

NEW! Time Traveler

First Known Use: 1555

in the meaning defined at sense 1

See Words from the same year

myriad Synonyms

Phrases

all kinds (of), quite a bit;

Other Number-Related Terms

jubilee, quarantine, score, twain

myriad

adjective myr·i·ad \ ˈmir-ē-əd \

Definition of myriad

1 : innumerable

those myriad problems

; also : both numerous and diverse

myriad topics

2 : having innumerable aspects or elements

the myriad activity of the new land
—Meridel Le Sueur

See myriad defined for English-language learners

Examples of myriad in a Sentence

… the more quotations that could be found, the more easily the subtle differences between the (possibly) myriad usages and meanings of any single word could be identified. This is how historical dictionaries are made … —Simon Winchester, The Meaning of Everything, 2003
The age of white guilt, with its myriad corruptions and its almost racist blindness to minority individuality, may someday go down like the age of racism went down … —Shelby Steele, Harper's, November 2002
World War II accelerated the progress of science and technology into the microcosm. Scientists and technologists played tag with one another in their search for microscopic control. With mathematics and myriad theories, they defined a new microcosm. —Joseph A. Amato, Dust, 2000
The old system's problems were myriad.
the myriad problems that today's cities face