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

Angelides added he feels there seems to be "a desire to perpetuate myths and falsehoods" around Maccabi Tel Aviv and its fans.

Read more on BBC

Despite popular myth, Cheney often lost policy debates—though sometimes events vindicated his view.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

But as his body began failing him due to progressive muscular atrophy, the myth crumbled.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

That’s exactly what we’re talking about: Some mishmash misreading of Shakespeare’s “Henry V” mixed with the myth of Winston Churchill, that unregenerate racist curmudgeon turned right-wing godhead, has curdled Elon’s brain.

Read more on Salon

Finally, reject the “stab-in-the-back” myth they manufactured to blame the consequences of their actions on domestic scapegoats — Congress, the news media, the antiwar movement and, ultimately, the antiwar majority of the American people.

Read more on Salon

Related Words

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