Myth

How to spell myth

4 letters · 1 syllable

How to pronounce myth

What does myth mean?

1. nounA traditional story, often involving gods or heroes, that explains a natural event or a people's beliefs.
2. nounA widely held but mistaken belief or idea.

Myth in a sentence

• The ancient Greek myth of Icarus warns against reckless ambition.

• The idea that we use only ten percent of our brain is a stubborn myth.

• Her lecture compared the creation myth of several early cultures.

• The article set out to debunk the common myth that cracking your knuckles causes arthritis.

Where does myth come from?

Language of origin: Greek

The word comes from the Greek muthos, which originally meant simply 'speech', 'word', or 'tale', anything that was spoken or told aloud. Over time muthos came to mean a traditional story about gods and heroes, especially one passed down to explain the origins of the world or of a people. It entered English in the early 1800s, arriving by way of the Latin mythus and French mythe, both of which preserved the Greek root closely. The same muthos lies behind familiar relatives such as 'mythology' and 'mythical', which is a useful reminder that the spelling keeps the Greek 'y' rather than an 'i'. From the literal storytelling sense, English also developed the everyday meaning of a popular but false belief, a notion widely repeated yet untrue.

How the word is built

• myth (from Greek muthos: speech, story, legend)