myth

Definitions

1. A traditional story which embodies a belief regarding some fact or phenomenon of experience, and in which often the forces of nature and of the soul are personified; a sacred narrative regarding a god, a hero, the origin of the world or of a people, etc.
2. Such stories as a genre.
   uncountable
3. long-tailed tit
4. A commonly-held but false belief, a common misconception; a fictitious or imaginary person or thing; a popular conception about a real person or event which exaggerates or idealizes reality.
5. A person or thing held in excessive or quasi-religious awe or admiration based on popular legend
6. A person or thing existing only in imagination, or whose actual existence is not verifiable.
7. An invented story, theory, or concept.

Equivalents

27 more languages

العربيةالأسطورةخرافة

Bosanskibajbajemitmitomitosлегендамит+ 4 more

Češtinabájbájemýtus

Ελληνικάμύθος

Esperantomito

Suomijumalaistarujumalaistarustomyyttiuskomususkomustarina+ 2 more

Gàidhligfionnsgeul

Galegomito

עבריתאגדהמיתוס

Hrvatskibajbajemitmitomitosлегендамит+ 4 more

Magyarmítosz

Bahasa Indonesiamitos

Italianomito

日本語神話迷信

ქართულიმითი

Kurdîbajmitmîtos

Latinafābulamythos

Lietuviųmitas

Latviešumīts

Nederlandsmythe

Polskimit

Русскийлегендамифмифологияповерье+ 1 more

Српскиbajbajemitmitomitosлегендамит+ 4 more

Svenskagudasagamyt

Türkçemit

Українськалегендаміфповір'я

Tiếng Việthuyền thoại

Examples

“Jacobsen's theory about the empty storehouse is still valid, for a myth never has one meaning only; a myth is a polyphonic fugue of many voices.”

“Myth was the product of man's emotion and imagination, acted upon by his surroundings. (E. Clodd, Myths & Dreams (1885), 7, cited after OED)”

“Okay, okay, okay… First, of course, babies feel⟳ pain. How the fuck did we ever think⟳ otherwise⁉ But more importantly, the fact that painkillers are addictive was not a myth. It’s like⟳ a book of Greek mythology featuring the stories of Zeus, Sisyphus, Oedipus and Yanni. Come⟳ on! That last⟳ one is very real and it cannot be dismissed.”

“Scientists debunk the myth that gum stays in the human stomach for seven years.”

“Father Flanagan was legendary, his institution an American myth. (Tucson (Arizona) Citizen, 20 September 1979, 5A/3, cited after OED)”

“As for Mrs. Primmins's bones, they had been myths these twenty years.”

“Living beyond the Omega-4 mass relay in the Terminus Systems, the mysterious Collector species is glimpsed so rarely as to be taken for a myth by most in galactic society. In reality, Collectors are human-sized insectoid bipeds and can resemble⟳ massive winged beetles. They are a terrifying force⟳ in the galaxy, responsible for the murder⟳ of hundreds of thousands.”

“His story is a pure myth.”

CEFR level