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myriad - What does it mean?

Definition of 'myriad'

English

(wikipedia)

Noun

(en-noun)
  • A countless number or multitude (of specified things)
  • Earth hosts a myriad of animals.

    Usage notes

    Used as an adjective (see below), 'myriad' requires neither an article before it nor a preposition after. Because of this, some consider the usage described in sense 2 above, where 'myriad' acts as part of a nominal (or noun) group (that is, "a myriad of animals"), to be tautological.

    Adjective

    (-)
  • (modifying a singular noun) Multifaceted, having innumerable elements
  • * 1931 , William Faulkner, Sanctuary , Vintage 1993, p. 131:
  • one night he would be singing at the barred window and yelling down out of the soft myriad darkness of a May night; the next night he would be gone [...].
  • * 2011' April 6–19, Kara Krekeler, "Researchers at Washington U. have 'itch' to cure problem", ''West End Word'', ' 40 (7), p. 8:
  • "As a clinician, it's a difficult symptom to treat," Cornelius said. "The end symptom may be the same, but what's causing it may be myriad ."
  • (modifying a plural noun) Great in number; innumerable, multitudinous
  • Earth hosts myriad animals.
  • * 2013 September 28, , " London Is Special, but Not That Special," New York Times (retrieved 28 September 2013):
  • Driven by a perceived political need to adopt a hard-line stance, Mr. Cameron’s coalition government has imposed myriad new restrictions, the aim of which is to reduce net migration to Britain to below 100,000.

    See also

    * plethora ----