# myriad

Pronunciation: say "MIR-ee-ad" /ˈmɪɹi.æd/

## Noun

1. A countless number or multitude of things of a particular kind.
   - Simple: A very large number of things, too many to count.
   - _A myriad of tiny lights flickered across the harbor as night fell._
   - _Myriads of locusts descended on the valley, stripping every field bare._
3. The number ten thousand.
   - Simple: The number ten thousand (10,000).
   - _The general reported his strength as two myriads of foot soldiers, twenty thousand men in all._
   - _Greek mathematicians counted large quantities in units of a myriad, much as we count in thousands._

## Adjective

2. Very great in number, too many to count.
   - Simple: Very many, too many to count.
   - _The new law brought myriad changes to how small businesses file their taxes._
   - _The reef supports myriad species of fish, crabs, and sponges._
4. Many-sided, made up of countless elements or aspects.
   - Simple: Made of very many different parts.
   - _She loved the myriad life of the market, its noise and smells and endless bargaining._
   - _Under the microscope, a drop of pond water reveals a myriad world of darting, spinning creatures._

## Origin

From French myriade, from Late Latin mȳriadem, from Ancient Greek μυριάς (muriás, "the number 10,000"), from μυρίος (muríos, "numberless, countless, infinite").

Source: DictionaryAI, https://dictionaryai.com/define/myriad (written from Wiktionary data, CC BY-SA 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).