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What specific number did myriad originally refer to in Greek?

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myriad

American  

[mir-ee-uhd] / ˈmɪr i əd /

noun

• myriads
  plural

1. 

   a very great or indefinitely great number of persons or things.

2. ten thousand.

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adjective

1. of an indefinitely great number; innumerable.

   the myriad stars of a summer night.

2. having innumerable phases, aspects, variations, etc..

   the myriad mind of Shakespeare.

   Synonyms:

   untold, infinite, boundless, countless

3. ten thousand.

myriad British  

/ ˈmɪrɪəd /

adjective

1. innumerable

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noun

1. (also used in plural) a large indefinite number

2. archaic ten thousand

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• myriadly
  adverb

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• myriads
  plural

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Etymology

Origin of myriad

First recorded in 1545–55; from Greek mȳriad-, stem of mȳriás “ten thousand,” from mȳríos “countless”

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Explanation

A myriad is a lot of something. If you’re talking about Ancient Greece, a myriad is ten thousand, but today you can use the word in myriad other ways. Myriad comes from the Greek myrioi, the word for ten thousand, or less specifically, a countless amount. Myriad can be a noun, like a myriad of choices, or an adjective, like when you study myriad subjects in college. If you lift a rock you might find a myriad of bugs. Sticklers often look down their noses at using myriad as a noun, but that usage came first.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

myriad myriads

The brand is also working with PGA Tour winner Max Homa, who stars in a humorous campaign video where he lists the myriad mental tasks that typically fall to moms.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 21, 2026

In one of his myriad spreadsheets, Hartman projected that the final budget could include up to $15.5 million of the $20.5 million the company had lobbied for.

From Salon ● Oct. 20, 2026

There are myriad public transportation challenges for the next Los Angeles mayor, but perhaps none is more visible than the long-awaited Skylink people mover train at Los Angeles International Airport.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 19, 2026

Year: 2018 Compiled by: Noel Murray Of note: Accompanied by “The 10 Worst Family Games,” as well as myriad individual tributes to the games named on both lists.

From Slate ● Oct. 7, 2026

The sun had shifted round, and the myriad windows of the Ministry of Truth, with the light no longer shining on them, looked grim as the loopholes of a fortress.

From "1984" by George Orwell

“Beyond healthcare, this fusion of nanotechnology and cells can lead to unique living hybrid robots, opening up myriads of interesting applications.”

From Salon ● Dec. 15, 2023

Over the centuries, many observers hypothesized that the Milky Way’s soft luminescence was the collective glow from myriads of stars that were too faint and close together in the sky to be individually distinguished.

From Scientific American ● Aug. 4, 2023

Stacking one’s few belongings in a safe place, trying to understand what is yelled in German, Russian, Ukrainian, looking into myriads of unknown faces, worried faces, some smiling faces.

From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 11, 2022

"Above all I want to thank those myriads of unassuming folk who have shown what love in action can achieve."

From BBC ● Dec. 24, 2021

“In yours. But there are myriads of worlds. You know that.”

From "The Amber Spyglass" by Philip Pullman

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Related Words

• countless
• endless
• infinite
• multiple

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