μυρίος

Forms

μῡρῐ́ος (mūríos) m (feminine μῡρῐ́ᾱ, neuter μῡρῐ́ον); first/second declension^[1]

Etymology

The origin is unknown.^[2][3] Chæréphon, citing Chantraine's dictionary, derives it within Greek from μύρομαι (múromai, “to flow, pour forth”), and Πάπυρος suggests an expressive word for what is boundless like the waves of the sea, comparing μύρω (múrō).^[4][5] Wiktionary mentions both Proto-Indo-European *mew- (“damp”) and μύρμηξ (múrmēx, “ant”), as of a countless swarm.^[1]

Πάπυρος considers the sense “countless” the original one, and the numeral μύριοι (múrioi, “ten thousand”) a Greek creation from it, marked by drawing the accent back.^[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

It appears in the first lines of the Iliad, where Achilles' wrath brings countless woes on the Achaeans.^[6][7][8] In Homer it is mostly plural, of number, but also singular with nouns such as grief and gravel, “measureless”.^[6][7]

Semantic evolution

From Hesiod on the plural μύριοι (múrioi) is also the definite numeral “ten thousand”, the largest number Greek expresses in one word; in military phrases the singular is used with collective nouns, as “ten thousand horse”.^[7][9] In the 4th century BC the Ten Thousand was the federal assembly of the Arcadians.^[7] The indefinite sense lived on in poetry and prose, with adverbial uses such as μυρίῳ (muríōi) “infinitely” (wiser, better).^[7] The New Testament uses it of countless tutors and of ten thousand words in a tongue.^[10][11]

Through Late Latin myrias, the derivative μυριάς (muriás) gave the English word myriad (1550s).^[12] Today there is Modern Greek μύριοι (mýrioi), “countless”.^[13][14]

Timeline

• Homer – The Iliad uses it of countless woes and of measureless grief.^[6][8]
• Before the 6th century BC – Hesiod uses the plural as the numeral “ten thousand”.^[7]
• 5th century BC – Aeschylus and Herodotus use the singular with collective nouns, “ten thousand horse”.^[7]
• 4th century BC – Xenophon and Demosthenes name the Arcadian assembly of the Ten Thousand.^[7]
• 1st century AD – Paul uses it of countless tutors.^[10]
• 1550s – English borrows myriad from the derivative.^[12]
• Modern Greek – It survives as Modern Greek μύριοι (mýrioi).^[13]

Meanings

Adjective

1. Countless, numberless; usually in the plural.^[7][6][10]
2. With a singular noun: measureless, immense, endless.^[7][6]
3. In the plural, as a numeral: ten thousand (see Usage notes).^[7][9]

Word family

• μυριάς (mūriás)
• μυριόφθαλμος (mūrióphthalmos)

Related words

• English myriad

Usage notes

The ancient grammarians distinguished μύριοι (múrioi), accented on the first syllable, as the definite number “ten thousand”, from μυρίοι, “countless”; the Suda and Eustathius repeat the rule, but the manuscripts do not keep it.^[7] The New Testament's “ten thousand talents” is printed with the accent drawn back.^[11]

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ Beekes, Robert S. P. (2010), Etymological Dictionary of Greek, with the assistance of Lucien van Beek, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 10, Leiden; Boston: Brill
3. ^ Bailly, Anatole (2020), Dictionnaire grec-français, Bailly 2020 Hugo Chávez ed., ed. Gérard Gréco et al.
4. ^ Charbonnet, André (2025), Chæréphon, v4.7: supplement to Bailly from papyri, inscriptions and recent lexica
5. ^ a b Πάπυρος–Larousse–Britannica, Μέγα Λεξικό της Ελληνικής Γλώσσας, Athens: Πάπυρος
6. ^ a b c d e Cunliffe, Richard John (1924), A Lexicon of the Homeric Dialect, London: Blackie and Son
7. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Liddell, Henry George; Scott, Robert; Jones, Henry Stuart (1940), A Greek-English Lexicon, 9th ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
8. ^ a b Keersmaekers, Alek (2021–2025), GLAUx: The Greek Language Automated corpus, https://github.com/alekkeersmaekers/glaux
9. ^ a b Liddell, Henry George; Scott, Robert (1889), An Intermediate Greek-English Lexicon, Oxford: Clarendon Press
10. ^ a b c Bauer, Walter; Danker, Frederick W., et al. (2000), A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature, 3rd ed., Chicago: University of Chicago Press
11. ^ a b Thayer, Joseph Henry (1889), A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament, New York: American Book Company
12. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
13. ^ a b Ινστιτούτο Νεοελληνικών Σπουδών (Ίδρυμα Μανόλη Τριανταφυλλίδη) (1998), Λεξικό της κοινής νεοελληνικής, Thessaloniki: Aristotle University of Thessaloniki
14. ^ Kriaras, Emmanuel, Επιτομή του Λεξικού της μεσαιωνικής ελληνικής δημώδους γραμματείας 1100–1669, Κέντρο Ελληνικής Γλώσσας, https://www.greek-language.gr