• n. 神話；虛構的人，虛構的事

來自希臘語mythos,想法，故事，神話，口口相傳的傳說，詞源不詳。可能來自某擬聲詞根mu,說話。比較其與mystery的詞義區別。

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.

他對這個神話的探討揭示了美國人的心理。

來自柯林斯例句

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

我一直在致力于推翻有關意義恒定性的謬談。

來自柯林斯例句

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

殺戮持續了數月后，真相在謠言、謊話和傳聞的遮掩下變得模糊不清。

來自柯林斯例句

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

我母親和別人串通，把他杜撰成一個闊氣的商人。

來自柯林斯例句

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

有關那喀索斯的神話故事在奧維德的作品中有過描述。

來自柯林斯例句