Editing Myriad (section)

==History==
The [[Aegean numerals]] of the [[Minoans|Minoan]] and [[Mycenaean civilization]]s included a symbol composed of a circle with four dashes <span style="font-size:150%;line-height:100%">𐄫</span> to denote tens of thousands.<ref name=Verdan>{{cite web|url=http://www.dma.ens.fr/culturemath/histoire%20des%20maths/htm/Verdan/Verdan.htm|title=Systèmes numéraux en Grèce ancienne: description et mise en perspective historique|author=Samuel Verdan|date=20 Mar 2007|access-date=2 Mar 2011|language=fr|archive-date=2 February 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100202054101/http://www.dma.ens.fr/culturemath/histoire%20des%20maths/htm/Verdan/Verdan.htm|url-status=dead}}</ref>

In classical [[Greek numerals]], myriad was written as a capital [[mu (letter)|mu]]: '''Μ'''. To distinguish this numeral from letters, it was sometimes given an [[overbar]]: {{overline|M}}. Multiples were written above this sign. For example {{Greek numeral|45820000}} is 4,582×10,000 or 45,820,000. 

The etymology of ''myriad'' is uncertain. It has been variously connected to [[Proto-Indo-European|PIE]] ''*meu-'' ("damp") in reference to the waves of the sea and to Greek ''myrmex'' ({{lang|grc|μύρμηξ}}, "ant") in reference to their swarms.<ref>Schwartzman, Steven. ''The Words of Mathematics: An Etymological Dictionary of Mathematical Terms Used in English'', [https://books.google.com/books?id=SRw4PevE4zUC&pg=PA142 p. 142]. The Mathematical Assoc. of America, 1994.</ref>

In his ''[[Sand Reckoner]]'', [[Archimedes]] used "myriad myriad" ({{overline|MM}}, one hundred million) as the basis for a numeration system of large powers of ten, which he used to count grains of sand.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Hirshfeld |first=Alan |title=Eureka Man: The Life and Legacy of Archimedes |date=8 September 2009 |publisher=Bloomsbury Publishing USA |isbn= |pages=57–60}}</ref>