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myth 
Audio Help [mith] Pronunciation Key
Audio Help [mith] Pronunciation Key –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, esp. 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. |
| 4. | an imaginary or fictitious thing or person. |
| 5. | an unproved or false collective belief that is used to justify a social institution. |
[Origin: 1820–30; < LL mȳthos < Gk mŷthos story, word]
] | Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1) Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2006. |
myth
To learn more about myth visit Britannica.com
| © 2008 Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc. |
myth.
| Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1) Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2006. |
| myth
Audio Help (mĭth) Pronunciation Key
n.
[New Latin mȳthus, from Late Latin mȳthos, from Greek mūthos.] |
| The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition Copyright © 2006 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved. |
myth
1830, from Gk. mythos "speech, thought, story, myth," of unknown origin.
Myths are "stories about divine beings, generally arranged in a coherent system; they are revered as true and sacred; they are endorsed by rulers and priests; and closely linked to religion. Once this link is broken, and the actors in the story are not regarded as gods but as human heroes, giants or fairies, it is no longer a myth but a folktale. Where the central actor is divine but the story is trivial ... the result is religious legend, not myth." [J. Simpson & S. Roud, "Dictionary of English Folklore," Oxford, 2000, p.254]General sense of "untrue story, rumor" is from 1840. Mythical first attested 1678.
| Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper |
| myth | |
noun | |
| a traditional story accepted as history; serves to explain the world view of a people |
| WordNet® 3.0, © 2006 by Princeton University. |
myth [miθ] noun
an ancient, fictional story, especially one dealing with gods, heroes etc
See also: mythology
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| Kernerman English Multilingual Dictionary, © 2000-2006 K Dictionaries Ltd. |
Myth
Myth\, n. [Written also mythe.] [Gr. my^qos myth, fable, tale, talk, speech: cf. F. mythe.]1. A story of great but unknown age which originally embodied a belief regarding some fact or phenomenon of experience, and in which often the forces of nature and of the soul are personified; an ancient legend of a god, a hero, the origin of a race, etc.; a wonder story of prehistoric origin; a popular fable which is, or has been, received as historical. 2. A person or thing existing only in imagination, or whose actual existence is not verifiable. As for Mrs. Primmins's bones, they had been myths these twenty years. --Ld. Lytton. Myth history, history made of, or mixed with, myths.| Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc. |
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