word of the day #2

myriad |ˈmirēəd| poetic/literarynouna countless or extremely great number networks connecting a myriad of computers.(chiefly in classical history) a unit of ten thousand.adjectivecountless or extremely great in number the myriad lights of the city.• having countless or very many elements or aspects the myriad political scene.ORIGIN mid 16th cent. (sense 2 of the noun: via late Latin from Greek murias, muriad-, from murioi ‘10,000.’USAGE Myriad is derived from a Greek noun and adjective meaning ‘ten thousand’. It was first used in English as a noun in reference to a great but indefinite number. The adjectival sense of ‘countless, innumerable’ appeared much later. In modern English, use of myriad as a noun and adjective are equally standard and correct, despite the fact that some traditionalists consider the adjective as the only acceptable use of the word.

No comments:

Post a Comment