MYRIAD

Pronunciation (US):

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 Dictionary entry overview: What does myriad mean? 

• MYRIAD (noun)
  The noun MYRIAD has 2 senses:

1. a large indefinite number

2. the cardinal number that is the product of ten and one thousand

  Familiarity information: MYRIAD used as a noun is rare.

• MYRIAD (adjective)
  The adjective MYRIAD has 1 sense:

1. too numerous to be counted

  Familiarity information: MYRIAD used as an adjective is very rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• MYRIAD (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

A large indefinite number

Classified under:

Nouns denoting quantities and units of measure

Context example:

he faced a myriad of details

Hypernyms ("myriad" is a kind of...):

large indefinite amount; large indefinite quantity (an indefinite quantity that is above the average in size or magnitude)

Derivation:

myriad (too numerous to be counted)

Sense 2

Meaning:

The cardinal number that is the product of ten and one thousand

Classified under:

Nouns denoting quantities and units of measure

Synonyms:

10000; myriad; ten thousand

Hypernyms ("myriad" is a kind of...):

large integer (an integer equal to or greater than ten)

• MYRIAD (adjective)

Sense 1

Meaning:

Too numerous to be counted

Synonyms:

countless; infinite; innumerable; innumerous; multitudinous; myriad; numberless; uncounted; unnumberable; unnumbered; unnumerable

Context example:

myriad stars

Similar:

incalculable (not able to be computed or enumerated)

Derivation:

myriad (a large indefinite number)

 Context examples 

I seemed to become more wakeful, and myriads of horrible fancies began to crowd in upon my mind—all of them connected with death, and vampires; with blood, and pain, and trouble.

(Dracula, by Bram Stoker)

A bulk material composed of discrete nano-substructures that are engineered, synthesized and characterized for a myriad of applications.

(Nanomaterial, NCI Thesaurus)

There was none among the myriads of men that existed who would pity or assist me; and should I feel kindness towards my enemies?

(Frankenstein, by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley)

Changes in the spine over time allowed mammals to develop into the myriad species we know today.

(What makes a mammal a mammal? Our spine, say scientists, National Science Foundation)

But among the myriad microscopic grains collected by Cassini, a special few — just 36 grains — stand out from the crowd.

(Saturn Spacecraft Samples Interstellar Dust, NASA)

All things were related to all other things from the farthermost star in the wastes of space to the myriads of atoms in the grain of sand under one's foot.

(Martin Eden, by Jack London)

But to their nostrils came the myriad smells of an Indian camp, carrying a story that was largely incomprehensible to One Eye, but every detail of which the she-wolf knew.

(White Fang, by Jack London)

In fact, they explained almost 1% of the variability in the oxygen levels in European Americans, which is relatively high for complex genetic phenotypes, or traits, that are influenced by myriad variants.

(Researchers identify genetic variations linked to oxygen drops during sleep, National Institutes of Health)

As we passed the point the whole cove burst upon our view, a half-moon of white sandy beach upon which broke a huge surf, and which was covered with myriads of seals.

(The Sea-Wolf, by Jack London)

The sea is Earth's most formidable carbon dioxide storage machine, but mysteries abound about the interlocking processes and the myriad organisms involved.

(Research provides new view of the critical role of plankton in marine carbon storage, National Science Foundation)