different between myriad vs divers

English

Etymology

From French myriade, from Late Latin myriadis (genitive of myrias), from Ancient Greek ???????? (muriádos), genitive of ?????? (muriás, “number of 10,000”), from ?????? (muríos, “numberless, countless, infinite”).

Pronunciation

• (UK, US) IPA^(key): /?m??i.æd/, /?m??i.?d/

Noun

myriad (plural myriads)

1. (historical) Ten thousand; 10,000 [from 16th c.]
2. A countless number or multitude (of specified things) [from 16th c.]
   • 1914, Henry Graham Dakyns, Xenophon, Cyropaedia, Book I:

     How far he surpassed them all may be felt if we remember that no Scythian, although the Scythians are reckoned by their myriads, has ever succeeded in dominating a foreign nation ...

Related terms

• tens of thousands

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.

Translations

Adjective

myriad (not comparable)

1. (modifying a singular noun) Multifaceted, having innumerable elements [from 18th c.]
   • 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."

2. (modifying a plural noun) Great in number; innumerable, multitudinous [from 18th c.]
   • 2013 September 28, Kenan Malik, "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.

Translations

See also

• plethora

Swedish

Noun

myriad c

1. a myriad

Declension

References

• myriad in Svenska Akademiens ordlista (SAOL)

English

Etymology 1

See diver.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?da?v?(?)z/

Noun

divers

1. plural of diver

Etymology 2

See diverse.

Alternative forms

• diuers (obsolete)

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?da?v??(?)z/, /?da?v?(?)z/

Adjective

divers (comparative more divers, superlative most divers)

1. Archaic spelling of diverse, in the sense of various or assorted.
   • And his fame went throughout all Syria: and they brought unto him all sick people that were taken with divers diseases and torments, and those which were possessed with devils, and those which were lunatic, and those that had the palsy; and he healed them.

   • 1831, Letitia Elizabeth Landon, Romance and Reality, Volume 1, p.8.

     But to-night, the third rainy evening of three rainy days, every flower in the divers china bowls, cups, vases, was withered; the harp was out of tune with the damp; and Emily betook herself to the leafy labyrinth of a muslin flounce, la belle alliance of uselessness and industry.

   • 1919, P. G. Wodehouse, My Man Jeeves:

     Shortly after this I had to go out of town. Divers sound sportsmen had invited me to pay visits to their country places, and it wasn't for several months that I settled down in the city again.

Pronoun

divers

1. (archaic or literary) An indefinite number (at least two).

   • Tubal: There came divers of Antonio’s creditors in my company to Venice that swear he cannot choose but break.

Usage notes

When used as a pronoun, divers functions as a plural and takes a plural verb.

Anagrams

• drives

Catalan

Etymology

From Latin d?versus.

Adjective

divers (feminine diversa, masculine plural diversos, feminine plural diverses)

1. diverse
2. (in the plural) several

Related terms

• diversificar
• diversitat

Further reading

• “divers” in Diccionari de la llengua catalana, segona edició, Institut d’Estudis Catalans.
• “divers” in Gran Diccionari de la Llengua Catalana, Grup Enciclopèdia Catalana.
• “divers” in Diccionari normatiu valencià, Acadèmia Valenciana de la Llengua.
• “divers” in Diccionari català-valencià-balear, Antoni Maria Alcover and Francesc de Borja Moll, 1962.

Dutch

Etymology

From Middle Dutch divers, from Old French divers, from Latin d?versus.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /di?v?rs/
• Hyphenation: di?vers
• Rhymes: -?rs

Adjective

divers (comparative diverser, superlative meest divers or diverst)

1. diverse
2. (in the plural) several

Inflection

Derived terms

• diversiteit

French

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin diversus.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /di.v??/

Adjective

divers (feminine singular diverse, masculine plural divers, feminine plural diverses)

1. various; varying

Synonyms

• différent

Derived terms

• fait divers

Related terms

• diverger
• diversement
• diversifier
• diversité

References

• “divers” in Trésor de la langue française informatisé (The Digitized Treasury of the French Language).

Further reading

• “divers” in Trésor de la langue française informatisé (The Digitized Treasury of the French Language).

Anagrams

• verdis

German

Etymology

From Latin diversus.

Adjective

divers (comparative diverser, superlative am diversesten)

1. various, diverse, miscellaneous

Declension

Related terms

• Diversität

Further reading

• “divers” in Duden online

Middle French

Etymology

Latin diversus.

Adjective

divers m (feminine singular diverse, masculine plural divers, feminine plural diverses)

1. various; varying; different

Romanian

Etymology

Borrowed from French divers, from Latin diversus.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /di?vers/

Adjective

divers m or n (feminine singular divers?, masculine plural diver?i, feminine and neuter plural diverse)

1. various, diverse, varied

   Synonyms: variat, felurit, diferit

Declension

Related terms

• diversitate