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myth and legend

myth and legend

1 3.9
Traditional stories people tell to explain past events or cultural beliefs, often not true
  • noun
  • Literature
translation icon : mito y leyenda
  • Children love to hear stories about myths and legends from different parts of the world.

And you know, he goes on to say you can get these ideas from Greek myths and legends.

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Examples

  • Wilfred Owen was one of the most celebrated sufferers, and the saga of his sojourn at Craiglockhart Hospital in Scotland and treatment by Dr. William Rivers is now the stuff of myth and legend, like the deeds of the heroes of old.

    Academic text (2002)
  • During initiations, men revealed ancestral bones and other sacred objects, told myths and legends associated with them, and taught techniques to influence supernatural beings.

    Academic text (2001)
  • Despite all the myths and legends surrounding her, we are learning more and more about her through science and studies.

  • Stories, particularly in the form of folktales, myths, and legends, convey to us the collected wisdom of the human race.

    Academic text (1995)
  • Ancient myths and legends are full of tales of people who believed that they were smarter than the gods and immune from divine punishment.

    Academic text (2005)
  • 16. The verbal tradition, deeply rooted in close-knit cultural interaction, is what keeps a culture's myths and legends alive in the community and within the individual.

    Academic text (2002)
  • So instead of having the students read out of the textbook (one that we learned was written above the reading level of these students), Wax collected and read aloud to the students various Native American myths and legends.

    Academic text (1995)
  • Yet, like the myths and legends that were bestowed by native culture, these narratives also conveyed a large amount of information about Indian warfare and civil customs, as well as about the relationship between Indians and backwoods settlers.

    Academic text (2002)
  • Many cultures have their own myths and legends that explain the origins of the world.

  • The myths and legends of ancient Greece often feature gods and heroes.

Synonyms

story
vsmyth and legend
1.0

An account of events told to entertain or inform

specifies traditional explanatory tales often viewed as unverified or exaggerated
legend
vsmyth and legend
  • Literature
439 3.9

An old story about the past that may include magic or gods

focuses more on origin and belief explanations and on exaggeration
myth
vsmyth and legend
  • Literature
240 3.7

A traditional story that explains how the world or people began and often includes gods

is broader, also including culturally rooted tales not strictly explanatory
lore
vsmyth and legend
52 6.1

Knowledge and stories that people pass down over generations

emphasizes narrative accounts that explain cultural beliefs and historical events
folklore
vsmyth and legend
43 4.9

Traditional stories, customs, and beliefs people pass down through generations

focuses more narrowly on narrative tales that explain origins or history
folk tale
vsmyth and legend
6 2.7

An old story that people tell to each other in a community

covers those oral tales but also other traditional explanatory accounts
mythos
vsmyth and legend
3 8.1

A set of old stories that explain a group's beliefs and how it began

refers instead to individual traditional accounts rather than the full collection
mythic tale
vsmyth and legend
  • Literature
1 6.2

A story passed down about gods, heroes, or magic

applies more widely to traditional accounts that explain history or beliefs

Antonyms

1.0

Something that can be shown to be true, not an opinion

1.4

The way things really are, not how we imagine or wish

How Legendary

myth and legend
  • Literature
1 3.9
legend
  • Literature
439 3.9
epic
  • Literature
44 5.5
story
1.0
folktale
  • Literature
8 3.4
anecdote
102 4.1

Surface Forms

Morphology

myth + and + legend

This phrase is a straightforward coordination of two nouns whose meanings largely overlap: 'myth' and 'legend' both denote traditional or historical stories. A B1 learner who knows the constituent words and the conjunction 'and' can directly infer that 'myth and legend' refers to traditional/unverified stories, so the meaning is fully compositional and cross-linguistically transparent.

Etymology

The phrase myth and legend joins two kinds of old story: myth (stories about gods and how the world began) and legend (stories about heroes or past events that are often made more exciting). Together they paint a picture of a culture's 'traditional stories' that mix fact and wonder, so the phrase means tales people tell that are often not fully true.