myth
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.
stories or matter of this kind: realm of myth.
any invented story, idea, or concept: His account of the event is pure myth.
an imaginary or fictitious thing or person.
an unproved or false collective belief that is used to justify a social institution.
Origin of myth
1synonym study For myth
word story For myth
Greek mŷthos has a tremendously wide range of meaning: “a word, a speech, mere speech (as opposed to érga ‘deeds’), something said, a thought, an unspoken word, a purpose, a rumor, a report, a saying, fiction (as opposed to lógos ‘historical truth’), the plot of a play, a narrative, a story, a story for children, a fable.”
Sixty percent of Greek vocabulary has no known etymology, and mŷthos is probably within that 60 percent, but it is possible that mŷthos comes from the uncommon Proto-Indo-European root mēudh-, mūdh- (with other variants) “to be concerned with, crave, earnestly desire, think over.” Following this theory, from the variant mūdh-, Greek derives mŷthos and its derivative verb mȳtheîsthai “to speak, converse, tell”; Gothic has maudjan “to remind, remember”; Lithuanian has maûsti “to be concerned with,” and Polish has myśleć “to think.”
Other words for myth
3 | fiction, fantasy, talltale |
Other words from myth
- coun·ter·myth, noun
Words that may be confused with myth
Other definitions for myth. (2 of 2)
mythological.
mythology.
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024
How to use myth in a sentence
One of the most persistent myths in American politics is the media-fueled concept of the lame duck.
The Liberation of the Lame Duck: Obama Goes Full Bulworth | John Avlon | December 19, 2014 | THE DAILY BEASTSex, with its myths, confronts us with the complexity of our behaviors and our beliefs.
He does, however, attempt to dispel some of the myths that have emerged from hearsay and rumor over the last century.
Giants are the cornerstone of the myths, legends, and traditions of almost every culture on Earth.
But early vampire myths were a far cry from the sleek, cloaked version Stoker described.
Using the same data as Max Mller, I suggest that words originated from the mysteries and not myths from the words.
Archaic England | Harold BayleyThe theory, so pertinaciously put forward by Max Mller, was that myths originated from a subsequent misunderstanding of words.
Archaic England | Harold BayleyIt is to find the wines of France, which out of France are to be regarded as myths, and as rare as the woman of whom I write!
Honorine | Honore de BalzacThe picture presented in the third volume of the myths and languages of the same nations favored the view previously taken.
The Works of Hubert Howe Bancroft, Volume 5 | Hubert Howe BancroftCertain beliefs, and the myths which were based upon them, are older than even the civilization of the Tigro-Euphrates valley.
Myths of Babylonia and Assyria | Donald A. Mackenzie
British Dictionary definitions for myth (1 of 2)
/ (mɪθ) /
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
another word for mythology (def. 1), mythology (def. 3)
a person or thing whose existence is fictional or unproven
(in modern literature) a theme or character type embodying an idea: Hemingway's myth of the male hero
philosophy (esp in the writings of Plato) an allegory or parable
Origin of myth
1British Dictionary definitions for myth. (2 of 2)
mythological
mythology
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
Browse