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

The pair are accused of "peddling the myth" Miss Wandelt is Madeleine while stalking Mr and Mrs McCann by sending emails, making phone calls, leaving voicemails and turning up at their address.

Read more on BBC

The research helped him debunk myths of the near-useless male lion that seldom hunts and of the female as the consummate mother.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

“The idea of Singapore destroying its heritage is something of a myth,” Lee said.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

The study connects the region's flood myths and water-centered deities to the landscape itself, suggesting that Sumerian religion evolved from their intimate relationship with tides and rivers.

Read more on Science Daily

What Mr. Ellis seems unable to abide are the ways our heroic myths of the Founders keep us from understanding historical reality.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

Related Words

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