myth

¹

[mith]

noun

1. a traditional or legendary story, usually concerning some being or hero or event, with or without a determinable basis of fact or a natural explanation, especially one that is concerned with deities or demigods and explains some practice, rite, or phenomenon of nature.

2. stories or matter of this kind.

   realm of myth.

3. any invented story, idea, or concept.

   His account of the event is pure myth.

   Synonyms: fantasy, fiction

4. an imaginary or fictitious thing or person.

5. an unproved or false collective belief that is used to justify a social institution.

myth.

²

abbreviation

1. mythological.

2. mythology.

myth

¹

/ mɪθ /

noun

1. 1. a story about superhuman beings of an earlier age taken by preliterate society to be a true account, usually of how natural phenomena, social customs, etc, came into existence

   2. another word for mythology mythology

2. a person or thing whose existence is fictional or unproven

3. (in modern literature) a theme or character type embodying an idea

   Hemingway's myth of the male hero

4. philosophy (esp in the writings of Plato) an allegory or parable

myth.

²

abbreviation

1. mythological

2. mythology

Other Word Forms

• countermyth noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of myth¹

First recorded in 1820–30; from Late Latin mȳthus, from Greek mŷthos “story, word”

Word History and Origins

Origin of myth¹

C19: via Late Latin from Greek muthos fable, word

Synonym Study

See legend.

Example Sentences

Back in its day, the myth insists, life was nicer and simpler.

Read more on Salon

UK special forces troops who served in Sarajevo during the siege have told the BBC the allegations are an "urban myth".

Read more on BBC

Here we find a quote from Michael Longley’s 1966 review of “Death of a Naturalist,” which argued that its “childhood landscape has acquired the validity of myth.”

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

The authors debunk commonly held myths that cast senior citizens as inept, scam-prone users of the internet.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

It’s a myth designed to promote divisive far-right ideologies.

Read more on Salon

Related Words

• fable 
• fantasy 
• fiction 
• illusion 
• imagination 
• legend 
• lore 
• parable 
• superstition 
• tale 
• tradition