legend

[lej-uh nd] /ˈlɛdʒ ənd/
noun
1.
a nonhistorical or unverifiable story handed down by tradition from earlier times and popularly accepted as historical.
2.
the body of stories of this kind, especially as they relate to a particular people, group, or clan:
the winning of the West in American legend.
3.
an inscription, especially on a coat of arms, on a monument, under a picture, or the like.
4.
a table on a map, chart, or the like, listing and explaining the symbols used.
Compare key1 (def 8).
5.
Numismatics, inscription (def 8).
6.
a collection of stories about an admirable person.
7.
a person who is the center of such stories:
She became a legend in her own lifetime.
8.
Archaic. a story of the life of a saint, especially one stressing the miraculous or unrecorded deeds of the saint.
9.
Obsolete. a collection of such stories or stories like them.
Origin
1300-50; 1900-05 for def 4; Middle English legende written account of a saint's life < Medieval Latin legenda literally, (lesson) to be read, noun use of feminine of Latin legendus, gerund of legere to read; so called because appointed to be read on respective saints' days
Related forms
prelegend, noun, adjective
Can be confused
fable, legend, myth (see synonym study at the current entry)
Synonyms
1. Legend, fable, myth refer to fictitious stories, usually handed down by tradition (although some fables are modern). Legend, originally denoting a story concerning the life of a saint, is applied to any fictitious story, sometimes involving the supernatural, and usually concerned with a real person, place, or other subject: the legend of the Holy Grail. A fable is specifically a fictitious story (often with animals or inanimate things as speakers or actors) designed to teach a moral: a fable about industrious bees. A myth is one of a class of stories, usually concerning gods, semidivine heroes, etc., current since primitive times, the purpose of which is to attempt to explain some belief or natural phenomenon: the Greek myth about Demeter.
Antonyms
1. fact.
Examples from the web for legend
  • Over the years, other publications picked up the story, helping perpetuate the legend about the stone.
  • It was here, according to legend, that the story had begun.
  • May your wines be good, your legend lasting, and all alligators absent.
  • What happened before that time was a matter of legend and speculation.
  • He later blossoms into legend with the prize-winning fiction that gives the world the term cyberspace.
  • If given a choice, you'd probably want to be the guy after the guy who follows the legend.
  • It must have been a variant of the same urban legend.
  • While his books don't come with much scholarly apparatus, they have made him something of a legend among folklorists.
  • The outfit made him a legend in some eyes and a laughingstock in others.
  • Your name would become legend and in all likelihood word would spread of your horrible conduct beyond the university borders.
British Dictionary definitions for legend

legend

/ˈlɛdʒənd/
noun
1.
a popular story handed down from earlier times whose truth has not been ascertained
2.
a group of such stories: the Arthurian legend
3.
a modern story that has taken on the characteristics of a traditional legendary tale
4.
a person whose fame or notoriety makes him a source of exaggerated or romanticized tales or exploits
5.
an inscription or title, as on a coin or beneath a coat of arms
6.
explanatory matter accompanying a table, map, chart, etc
7.
  1. a story of the life of a saint
  2. a collection of such stories
Derived Forms
legendry, noun
Word Origin
C14 (in the sense: a saint's life or a collection of saints' lives): from Medieval Latin legenda passages to be read, from Latin legere to read
Word Origin and History for legend
n.

early 14c., "narrative dealing with a happening or an event," from Old French legende (12c., Modern French légende) and directly from Medieval Latin legenda "legend, story," literally "(things) to be read," on certain days in church, etc., from Latin legendus, neuter plural gerundive of legere "to read, gather, select" (see lecture (n.)).

Used originally of saints' lives; extended sense of "nonhistorical or mythical story" first recorded late 14c. Meaning "writing or inscription" (especially on a coin or medal) is from 1610s; on a map, illustration, etc., from 1903.