Definition of MYRIAD

Is myriad a noun?: Usage Guide

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.

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Noun

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."

Examples of myriad in a Sentence

Noun 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 Adjective … 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

Recent Examples on the Web: Noun His body is aching from head to toe in a myriad of ways. — Tom Orsborn, ExpressNews.com, "Spurs consider taking ‘stance’ during anthem," 30 July 2020 The hologram features a myriad of lights that swarm like fireflies to form into a 3-D image of Floyd, with his name depicted around his image. — USA TODAY, "George Floyd’s family gathers in Virginia to unveil hologram over Robert E. Lee statue," 30 July 2020 Sure, segregation might not be legal anymore, but institutionalised anti-Blackness persists nonetheless in a myriad of forms. — Ineye Komonibo, refinery29.com, "Maybe You’ve Heard A Rumour About Umbrella Academy’s Emmy Raver-Lampman. Maybe It’s True.," 29 July 2020 The conversation continues through a myriad of Slack channels, emails and phone calls. — Kristen Rogers, CNN, "Johns Hopkins' dashboard: The people behind the pandemic's most visited site," 11 July 2020 That’s one of a myriad of compelling unanswered questions wafting through college football’s suddenly morphing universe after the Big Ten declared all 42 of the league’s non-conference games canceled. — Eric Hansen, The Indianapolis Star, "No Big Ten? No problem. ACC has Notre Dame football scheduling issues covered," 10 July 2020 Other links include State Police/Department of Safety, local and County Sheriff related pages, state concealed carry statues, local firearm forums, and a myriad of other interesting, applicable information. — Chris Mudgett, Outdoor Life, "You Just Purchased a Handgun for Personal Defense, Now What?," 1 July 2020 There are a myriad of factors to consider from introduction to implementation for personal or potential court-use. — Susan Ferrechio, Washington Examiner, "Congress inches toward mandating car technology that blocks drunk driving," 9 July 2020 Its death may not be mourned by the millions who knew it only as an annoying plugin that had to be constantly updated just to keep watching videos and playing little Web games (to say nothing of its myriad of security issues). — Richard C. Moss, Ars Technica, "The rise and fall of Adobe Flash," 7 July 2020 Recent Examples on the Web: Adjective Over the past three decades, researchers have begun to explore just how that might occur, mapping the myriad ways that colonies avoid succumbing to disease. — Michael Schulson, Wired, "What Can Ants and Bees Teach Us About Containing Disease?," 1 Aug. 2020 As the school year approaches, many Anchorage parents are feeling forced to make difficult choices amid myriad unknowns. — Emily Goodykoontz, Anchorage Daily News, "Anchorage parents weigh difficult choices as an unpredictable school year edges closer," 31 July 2020 Despite his general vagueness on the campaign trail, both Biden's campaign website and the Democratic National Committee's new platform outlines myriad new programs and plans that virtually no Republican would sign onto. — Joseph Simonson, Washington Examiner, "Scrapping filibuster likely if Democrats win Senate majority, opening up liberal agenda," 31 July 2020 Then, as the commissioners struggled with various technological issues from working remotely, from not being able to read the myriad proposals from one another to not being heard through phone lines and videoconferencing, Burns pulled the plug. — Ryan Randazzo, The Arizona Republic, "Arizona utility regulators hit roadblock on clean-energy rules, abruptly end meeting," 30 July 2020 This version of the NBA approaches something like an uncanny valley of sports viewing—familiar, but foreign in myriad ways. — Adam Epstein, Quartz, "The NBA returns tonight, and it’ll look like nothing you’ve seen before," 30 July 2020 The myriad issues their behavior has raised since they were deployed under an executive order by President Donald Trump to protect federal buildings are still being debated and litigated. — Ned Temko, The Christian Science Monitor, "Democracy is under fire, but also underrated," 29 July 2020 Despite myriad precautions being taken by MLB amid the coronavirus pandemic, both teams left their benches and converged around home plate due to Kelly's actions, and there was little social distancing between players. — Jordan Freiman, CBS News, "Joe Kelly suspended 8 games after throwing pitch behind Alex Bregman's head, taunting Carlos Correa," 29 July 2020 Fairview Park City Schools anticipates having all students return with myriad safety precautions in place for the fall. — Brenda Cain, cleveland, "How are Cuyahoga County districts handling back to school amid coronavirus surge? See the list," 13 July 2020

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.