MYRIAD is one of my favorite SAT words! It is actually an Ancient Greek word meaning “ten thousand.” The largest number the Ancient Greeks could conceive of was MYRIAD MYRIAD, or 10,000 times 10,000. The historian Herodotus used MYRIAD to describe the “countless” or “innumerable” size of the Persian army invading Greece.
MYRIAD has appeared as an answer for a number of vocabulary in context questions. In each passage the key word “many” will lead you to MYRIAD as the most precise answer. For example, some musical compositions have MYRIAD meanings because they have many different interpretations. Although this is a reasonable example, I prefer Herodotus’ dramatic use of MYRIAD to describe the innumerable host of seemingly invincible Persian invaders.
MYRIAD – many; a large number