myth (English)

Where does "myth" come from?

The English noun 'myth' is a borrowing from Ancient Greek 'μῦθος' ('mûthos'), which carried a broad range of meanings including 'word', 'speech', 'account', 'rumour', and 'fable'[1]. Attested in English since 1830[1], the word evolved to describe sacred traditional stories, imaginary figures, and widespread misconceptions. It also exists alongside its direct doublet 'mythos' in English.

Open questions

• The deeper origin of the Ancient Greek word is disputed: Frisk suggests an onomatopoeic origin from 'μῡ', Ernštedt proposes a derivation from Egyptian 'mdwt' ('word, speech, affair'), and Beekes tentatively assigns it to Pre-Greek due to a lack of plausible comparanda. [2] [3]

Full etymology tree

• myth (English), '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.'
  • derived μῦθος (mûthos) (Ancient Greek), 'tale, story, narrative'

Ancestors

• μῦθος (Ancient Greek)

Cognates and doublets

• mythos (English)

Descendants and derived words

• mythology (English)
• demyth (English)
• edumyth (English)
• mythbust (English)
• mythbuster (English)
• mythconception (English)
• mytheme (English)
• mythic (English)
• mythical (English)
• mythicism (English)
• mythicize (English)
• mythification (English)

Sources

1. myth (English) - Wiktionary
2. μῦθος (mûthos) (Ancient Greek) - Wiktionary
3. mdwt (Egyptian) - Wiktionary

Updated October 2026

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Etymology data from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0 · About Miraris