myth

• n.神話；架空の人物、架空のもの

ギリシャ語のmythos（神話）、idea（思想）、story（物語）、myth（神話）、oral tradition（口承伝承）から。擬声語の語源mu（話す）から来ている可能性がある。mythとの語彙の違いを比較してください。

myth (n.)

1830, from French Mythe (1818) and directly from Modern Latin mythus, from Greek mythos "speech, thought, story, myth, anything delivered by word of mouth," 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.

1. His exploration of the myth brings insight into the American psyche.

彼はこの神話の探求に対してアメリカ人の心理を明らかにした。

2.I have been working on exploding the myth of fixity of meaning.

私は意味の恒常性に関する誤談を覆すことに取り組んできた。

3.Rumour, myth and hearsay obscure the truth after months of bloodshed.

殺戮が数ヶ月続いた後、真相はデマ、嘘、噂に隠されて曖昧になった。

4.My mother colluded in the myth of him as the swanky businessman.

私の母は他の人と結託して、彼を贅沢な商人に作りあげた。

5.The myth of Narcissus is described in Ovid 's work.

ナカソスに関する神話は、オビドの作品に記述されている。