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.

Did You Know?

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

In 2011 Michigan Republicans replaced the state’s onerous business tax with a flat 6% corporate rate while eliminating myriad carve-outs. — The Editorial Board, WSJ, "Battle of the Statehouses," 23 Oct. 2018 On Tuesday, the White House Office of Trade and Manufacturing Policy, headed by trade hawk Peter Navarro, issued a 65-page report charging China with a myriad of unfair trade practices. — Eamon Barrett, Fortune, "Spy Games (Continued)," 23 June 2018 Stephen, a producer with no use for a last name, found himself as much smitten with a fellow musician named Lindsey Cook while recovering from a myriad of diseases and bouts of depression in his parents' Virginia home. — Kat Bein, Billboard, "Producer Stephen Tells a Tale of Right Person, Wrong Time Love With Lindsey Cook on 'Stay': Exclusive," 8 Feb. 2018 Whetstone was also quickly pulled into handling the myriad of criticisms about the performance of top execs like CEO and founder Mark Zuckerberg and COO Sheryl Sandberg. — Kara Swisher, Recode, "Top Facebook communications exec Rachel Whetstone is departing for Netflix," 27 Aug. 2018 Stiffer bones are more likely to be brittle, and when dealing with an animal millions of years old, the chances for the bones to be crushed through natural wear and tear, not to mention outside animal or human influence, are myriad. — David Grossman, Popular Mechanics, "Ancient Flyer: New Extremely Old Pterosaur Found in Utah," 13 Aug. 2018 There are surely a myriad of reasons why tech companies are reticent to police their platforms — free speech, resources, accusations of bias. — Emily Stewart, Vox, "The $120-billion reason we can’t expect Facebook to police itself," 28 July 2018 Social networks spread discord and hate across our politics, a myriad of addictive devices hook us in and then drive us apart, and new technologies like artificial intelligence, automation and robotics could mean vast changes across our workplace. — Kara Swisher, Recode, "Turn and face the change: Recode and Vox.com are partnering," 1 Nov. 2018 Like every year, pop culture offers a myriad of costume choices for Halloween. — Bethonie Butler, The Seattle Times, "8 last-minute pop-culture Halloween costumes for 2018," 29 Oct. 2018

Recent Examples on the Web: Adjective

Part of the massive success of Fortnite has been the ability for hundreds of millions of players to join with each other across myriad computer, mobile, and console platforms. — Kyle Orland, Ars Technica, "Epic opens Fortnite’s cross-platform services for free to other devs," 12 Dec. 2018 Society’s negative perception of periods—and reproductive health in general—has stymied collective social progress in myriad ways. — Jordana Kier And Alex Friedman, Harper's BAZAAR, "Tampon Tax Is Just Another Example of Women's Inequality," 7 Dec. 2018 Now, after a quarter-century of research and enough failed exotic weapons to fill a museum, the Pentagon has built upon its myriad failures to create SCUPLS, or Scalable Compact Ultra-Short Pulse Laser System. — David Hambling, Popular Mechanics, "The Secret History of Plasma Weapons," 14 Nov. 2018 At 1,905 square feet with an open floor plan, the home catches summer light across the whitewashed walls and hardwood floors through the myriad windows throughout. — Alex Bazeley, Curbed, "Breezy beach house on Cape Cod asks $1.48M," 1 Aug. 2018 Sometimes an alliance or a relationship can fall apart because of myriad reasons too small to notice, or maybe even for no real reason at all. — Mike Finger, San Antonio Express-News, "In Spurs’ saga, explanations remain elusive," 4 July 2018 Ann Rosenberg, a grief counselor and licensed clinical social worker in New York City, told Fox News there are myriad reasons why a survivor would want to drag a family member’s name through the proverbial funereal mud. — Andrew O'reilly, Fox News, "Survivors penning 'revenge obituaries' to settle scores with the departed," 7 June 2018 However, for myriad reasons, Syfy is locked in a strategy focused on traditional OTA (over-the-air) viewing—a mismatch with the genre's audience. — Samuel Axon, Ars Technica, "The Expanse has officially been saved," 29 May 2018 Each location has a different menu, but all offer myriad options for every eater, from picky to gourmand. — Leah Bhabha, Vogue, "How to Spend a Fall Weekend on the North Shore of Massachusetts," 15 Oct. 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.