Orde Coombs 
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Myth and Urban Myth
For a word so often applied to events or stories from long, long ago, myth has a remarkably recent history in the English language. The earliest evidence for the word is from 1830, well after the time when the events themselves are thought to have occurred (though it should be noted that the related words mythology and mythic are hundreds of years older – still not as old as Achilles, but not young, either!). One application of myth, however – in the phrase urban myth – is quite new. Curiously, an urban myth does not usually have anything to do with the city: it is simply “a story about an unusual event or occurrence that many people believe is true but that is not true.” An example would be the tale that Elvis Presley is still alive after spending decades in a witness protection program. The phrase urban myth has been used to describe such hoaxes since at least 1971.
Examples of myth in a Sentence
Ars Technica, 13 Mar. 2025
Kennedy’s reaction to measles outbreaks alarms public health experts because the former lawyer embraces myths that vitamin A and cod liver oil are effective against the virus.
—Alexis Simendinger, The Hill, 13 Mar. 2025
Photo: Matthew Murphy and Evan Zimmerman In the Kabbalistic creation myth Tikkun Olam, which Becca (Khaila Wilcoxon), a canopy botanist studying Stella, relays, 10 vessels of primordial light are sent to earth.
—Luna Adler, Vogue, 10 Mar. 2025
The stranger starts talking of Hallow Road, which runs through the deepest part of the forest, as sacred ground in the myths and legends of the area — identified only with fictitious names but clearly somewhere in the U.K. or Ireland.
—David Rooney, The Hollywood Reporter, 10 Mar. 2025
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Cite this Entry
“Myth.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/myth. Accessed 24 Mar. 2025.
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myth
noun
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