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In English, the word can either refer to 10 000 or to an unspecified large quantity. There are also words in other languages with the same classic meaning as "myriad":
Chinese, Japanese and Korean even have words for a myriad squared (10 0002): yi (億/亿), oku (億), and eok (pronounced "awk"), respectively. In Japan, a myriad cubed (10 0003) is a cho (兆); a myriad to the fourth power (10 0004) is a kyo.
The English numbering system divides large numbers into groups of three digits, and so the names for such numbers follow this division (10 000 = ten thousand). Asian numbering divides large numbers into groups of four; so in Chinese, Japanese, or Korean, 30 000 really would be "three myriad" (3 0000 - Japanese san-man). One million is a hundred myriad (100 x 10000 instead of 1000 x 1000); the next uniquely named number after a myriad is 億, which is myriad myriad (10000 x 10000) or a hundred million.
Modern Greek still uses the myriad, but also uses the million. One million is ekatommyrio (εκατομμύριο); one thousand million is not trismyrio but disekatommyrio (δισεκατομμύριο).
Archimedes of Syracuse used the recursive 'myriad' 'myriad' 'myriad' etc. to count the number of grains of sand on a beach, and hence, the entire universe (see The Sand Reckoner).