Indulge Your Inner Word Nerd
myriad was our Word of the Day on 10/27/2016. Hear the podcast!
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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
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The suicide last fall was the second in a year at the new jail, which was supposed to help solve a myriad of longstanding problems: suicide attempts, inmate violence, drug use and guards using too much force.
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But his aggression - which was unpredictable- and his particular issues, which remain myriad, weren't manageable, at least not by me.
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But his aggression — which was unpredictable — and his particular issues, which remain myriad, weren't manageable, at least not by me.
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His successes, though, which follow myriad failures, were the result of doggedness, yes, but self-awareness also.
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But in the meantime over the last 12 years, myriad other developments have occurred in all directions in the Kansas City metro area .
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The specific voltages of the myriad electrodes must be stable to parts per million.
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Those are the findings of the latest Harvard-Harris poll, provided exclusively to The Hill, which paint a complicated picture of voters’ opinions about the myriad probes...
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The golf course issue arose when the city terminated the contract of the course operator last November because of a myriad of issues and problems.
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
Other Number-Related Terms
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
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
Recent Examples of myriad from the Web
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Stalingrad, the site of a ferocious World War II battle—but after the mustachioed despot’s myriad sins were exposed, the city reverted to Volgograd in 1961.
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The true test of the museum's potential to at once honor and illuminate the housing struggles of the past and digest and engage with those of the present will come with myriad decisions NPHM organizers have to make before opening day.
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The president has found myriad ways to derive personal profit from his public office, but few have presented a conflict of interest this vivid.
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House Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wis., vows that Republicans will complete tax reform this year despite myriad obstacles.
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There are myriad theories about why ticks are expanding their ranges, including reforestation and growth in the deer and rodent populations, which are common hosts.
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The measure has $419 million in spending attached, along with myriad education reforms.
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There is a quaint English village, a horrific murder, a quirky detective, no shortage of suspects and myriad motives.
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Among the myriad areas that would also face cuts: after-school programs, efforts focused on teacher training and reducing class sizes, and arts education, according to reporting from The Washington Post and others.
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.
Origin and Etymology of myriad
see 1myriad
MYRIAD Defined for English Language Learners
MYRIAD Defined for Kids
Definition of myriad for Students
: a very large number of things a myriad of possibilities myriads of stars
Definition of myriad for Students
: many in number : extremely numerous Underneath the heaps were all the myriad little … things … — Lynne Reid Banks, The Indian in the Cupboard
Learn More about myriad
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See words that rhyme with myriad Thesaurus: All synonyms and antonyms for myriad Spanish Central: Translation of myriad Nglish: Translation of myriad for Spanish speakers Britannica English: Translation of myriad for Arabic speakers
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