myth

¹ American  

[mith] / mɪθ /

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.

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myth. ² American  

abbreviation

1. mythological.

2. mythology.

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myth ¹ British  

/ 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

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myth. ² British  

abbreviation

1. mythological

2. mythology

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Related Words

See legend.

Other Word Forms

• countermyth noun

Etymology

Origin of myth

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

Example Sentences

But critics say the boutique waste hauler is not accomplishing anything environmentally useful and is selling the public a myth: that these plastics — multilayer plastic film, plastic bags, polystyrene — can be taken care of responsibly.

From Los Angeles Times

The myth that there’s a bunch of dry powder poised to surge into the market is the one most likely to cost you.

From The Wall Street Journal

So what actually helps with facial puffiness, and what's more myth than miracle?

From BBC

More than 60 years have passed since her death in 1963, yet the literary myth that has taken the name Sylvia Plath lives on.

From Los Angeles Times

And with stocks wobbling the past two weeks, those numbers help counteract Wall Street’s latest myth: that today’s market, dominated by giant tech companies, is a monster that will stomp your index funds to bits.

From The Wall Street Journal

Related Words

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