myriad

/ˈmɪriəd/

/ˈmɪriəd/

Other forms: myriads; myriadly

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.

Definitions of myriad

1. noun

   a large indefinite number
   “he faced a myriad of details”

   type of:

   large indefinite amount, large indefinite quantity

   an indefinite quantity that is above the average in size or magnitude
2. noun

   the cardinal number that is the product of ten and one thousand
   synonyms: 10000, ten thousand

   type of:

   large integer

   an integer equal to or greater than ten
3. adjective

   too numerous to be counted
   “myriad stars”

   synonyms: countless, infinite, innumerable, innumerous, multitudinous, numberless, uncounted, unnumberable, unnumbered, unnumerable

   incalculable

   not capable of being computed or enumerated