μυρίος

Ancient Greek

Etymology

Origin uncertain. It may be related to either Proto-Indo-European *mew- (damp) (as in 'flowing' like the countless waves of the sea) or μύρμηξ (múrmēx, ant) (like a countless swarm).[1]

Pronunciation

 

Adjective

μῡρῐ́ος • (mūríos) m (feminine μῡρῐ́ᾱ, neuter μῡρῐ́ον); first/second declension

  1. numberless, countless, infinite
    1. (poetic) measureless, immense, infinite
    2. (of time) endless
    3. (adverbial, in neuter plural) much, immensely, incessantly
      1. (adverbial, singular dative) infinitely
  2. (as a definite numeral, in the plural) ten thousand, the greatest number expressed in Ancient Greek as a single word

Usage notes

According to the Grammarians μυρίος (muríos) (paroxytonic) is the indefinite form, and μύριος (múrios) (proparoxytonic) is the definite form. However, this distinction is not observed in the manuscripts.

Inflection

Synonyms

Derived terms

Further reading

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