myria-, myrio-, myri-

A reference to anything which has numerous, or countless, spines or spine-like growths.

Having numerous spines, or sharp points; such as, certain fish.

A form of bizarre repetitive and widespread habit spasm affecting many members of a community, often in an imitative way.

It has been described in Java, Borneo, and in parts of Russia.

Etymology: Russian, from Greek myrios, "countless".

1. So many that they cannot be counted: "The myriad stars were impossible to count."
2. Made up of many different components: "The Earth has a myriad of animals in its global ecological system."
3. Constituting a very large, indefinite number; innumerable: "They saw the myriad fish in the ocean."
3. Composed of numerous diverse elements or facets: "The politician was amazed by the myriad life of the city."
4. As a noun, a vast number; a very great or indefinitely great number of people or things: "He discovered the myriads of bees in the hives of his garden."
5. Archaic meaning: "ten thousand".

Myriad used as a noun and as an adjective

This word has been used as a noun ever since its introduction into English in the mid-16th century. It was ultimately borrowed from a Greek word meaning "ten thousand", and from a Greek adjective meaning "countless".

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.

In fact, from the 16th to the 19th century, the English noun was used to mean "ten thousand", primarily in translations from Greek or Latin, or in reference to the Greek numerical system.

The noun is used in both the singular (a myriad of voices) and in the plural (the myriads of voices; the voices of myriads).

At the beginning of the 19th century, myriad began its life as an adjective meaning "countless, innumerable", but it was used mostly in poetry or in poetic prose.

A unit of measure equivalent to 10,000 grams.

A metric measure of capacity, containing ten thousand liters.

It is equal to 2641.7 wine gallons.

A unit of measure equivalent to 10,000 meters.

1. Having numerous legs (with feet).
2. A class of arthropodous animals, comprising the centipedes and millipedes.
3. A member of the Myriapoda; a centipede or millipede.

A superclass of arthropods, including the classes Chilopoda (centipedes) and Diplopoda (millipedes).

A captain, or commander, of ten thousand men.

Government by ten thousand rulers.

Having an indefinitely great or countless number of leaves.

1. A general term for any terrestrial arthropod having an elongated body composed of many similar segments; such as, "centipedes" and "millipedes".
2. Arthropods having the body composed of numerous double somites (actual or ideal serial segments) of which an animal is composed each with two pairs of legs: "millipedes".

A picture made up of several smaller pictures, drawn upon separate pieces in such a manner as to produce a combination in many different ways, thus producing a great variety of scenes or landscapes.

A form of kaleidoscope.

A kaleidoscope is an instrument invented by Sir David Brewster, which contains loose fragments of colored glass, etc, and reflecting surfaces so arranged that changes of position exhibit its contents in an endless variety of beautiful colors and symmetrical forms.