myth

English Online Dictionary. What means myth‎? What does myth mean?

English

Alternative forms

• mythe (rare or archaic)

Etymology

From Ancient Greek μῦθος (mûthos, “word, humour, companion, speech, account, rumour, fable”). Attested in English since 1830. Doublet of mythos.

Pronunciation

• enPR: mĭth, IPA^(key): /mɪθ/
• Homophone: miff (th-fronting)
• Rhymes: -ɪθ

Noun

myth (plural myths)

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. (uncountable) Such stories as a genre.

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

3. 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.

   Synonym: misconception

4. A person or thing held in excessive or quasi-religious awe or admiration based on popular legend

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

5. A person or thing existing only in imagination, or whose actual existence is not verifiable.
6. An invented story, theory, or concept.

Antonyms

• antimyth

Hyponyms

Derived terms

Translations

See also

• legend

Further reading

• “myth”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.
• William Dwight Whitney, Benjamin E[li] Smith, editors (1911), “myth”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., →OCLC.
• "myth" in Raymond Williams, Keywords (revised), 1983, Fontana Press, page 210.

Welsh

Pronunciation

• (North Wales) IPA^(key): /mɨːθ/
• (South Wales) IPA^(key): /miːθ/

Noun

myth

1. Nasal mutation of byth.

Mutation