myth
[ mith ]
/ mɪθ /
noun
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
1820–30; < Late Latin
mȳthos < Greek
mŷthos story, word
SYNONYMS FOR myth
1 See
legend.
3 fiction, fantasy, talltale.
OTHER WORDS FROM myth
coun·ter·myth, nounWords nearby myth
Definition for myth (2 of 2)
Example sentences from the Web for myth
British Dictionary definitions for myth (1 of 2)
myth
/ (mɪθ) /
noun
- 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
Word Origin for myth
C19: via Late Latin from Greek
muthos fable, word
British Dictionary definitions for myth (2 of 2)
myth.
abbreviation for
mythological
mythology