different between myriad vs several

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

Alternative forms

• severall (obsolete)

Etymology

From Anglo-Norman several, from Medieval Latin s?par?lis, from Latin s?par (“separate”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?s?v(?)??l/
• Hyphenation: sev?er?al, seve?ral

Adjective

several (comparative more several, superlative most several)

1. (obsolete) Separate, distinct; particular. [15th-19th century]
   • 1599, William Shakespeare, Julius Caesar:

     Here is the will, and under Caesar's seal. To every Roman citizen he gives, to every several man, seventy-five drachmas.

   • So one thing may be good and bad to several parties, upon diverse occasions.

   • 1852, Washington Irving, Tales from the Alhambra:

     the hearts of the three cavaliers were completely captured, especially as gratitude was added to their admiration; it is a little singular, however, though no less certain, that each of them was enraptured with a several beauty.

   • 1666, Dryden, Annus Mirabilis: The Year of Wonders

     Each several ship a victory did gain.

   • 1711, Alexander Pope, An Essay on Criticism

     Each might his several province well command, / Would all but stoop to what they understand.

2. A number of different; various. [from 16th century]
   • 1610, The Tempest, by Shakespeare, act 3, scene 1

     […] for several virtues / Have I lik'd several women; never any / With so full soul but some defect in her / Did quarrel with the noblest grace she ow'd, / And put it to the foil […].

   • early 1600s, Francis Bacon, Of Simulation and Dissimulation

     habits and faculties, several, and to be distinguished
3. (law) Separable, capable of being treated separately.

Derived terms

• joint and several

Determiner

several

1. Consisting of a number more than two but not very many. [from 17th century]

   Several cars were in the parking lot.

   They had many journals. I subscribed to several.

   Several of the members were absent.

   • 1784, William Jones, The Description and Use of a New Portable Orrery, &c., preface:

     The favourable reception the Orrery has met with from Per?ons of the fir?t di?tinction, and from Gentlemen and Ladies in general, has induced me to add to it ?everal new improvements in order to give it a degree of Perfection; and di?tingui?h it from others ; which by Piracy, or Imitation, may be introduced to the Public.

   • 2004, The Guardian, 6 November:

     Several people were killed and around 150 injured after a high-speed train hit a car on a level crossing and derailed tonight.

Usage notes

• Some dictionaries and many older grammars put several into the word class 'pronoun' in many of its uses.

Derived terms

• several states
• severally

Translations

See also

• sever

Adverb

several (not comparable)

1. By itself; severally.
   • 1551, Ralph Robinson (sometimes spelt Raphe Robynson) (translator), Utopia (originally written by Sir Thomas More)

     Every kind of thing is laid up several in barns or storehouses.

Noun

several (plural severals)

1. (obsolete) An area of land in private ownership (as opposed to common land).
2. Each particular taken singly; an item; a detail; an individual. (Can we add an example for this sense?)
3. (archaic) An enclosed or separate place; enclosure. (Can we add an example for this sense?)
4. (archaic) A woman's loose outer garment, capable of being worn as a shawl, or in other forms.

Translations

References

• several at OneLook Dictionary Search
• several in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911.

Anagrams

• Leavers, laveers, leavers, reveals, vealers

Old French

Adjective

several m (oblique and nominative feminine singular severale)

1. separate

Declension

Noun

several m (oblique plural severaus or severax or severals, nominative singular severaus or severax or severals, nominative plural several)

1. one's own property or possession

Related terms

• sevrer
• desevrer

Descendants

• English: several

References

• several on the Anglo-Norman On-Line Hub