myth

noun

1. 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. 2

   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. 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.

   “Scientists debunk the myth that gum stays in the human stomach for seven years.”

4. 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. 5

   A person or thing existing only in imagination, or whose actual existence is not verifiable.