myth

/mɪθ/

//mɪθ// noun

By · According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA) ·

"myth" is a 4-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“myth” has 7 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #6,269. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#6,269
frequency rank, English
4,057
“M” headwords
7
tracked misspellings
20
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - 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 ...

Corpus desk

Index EN-myth · myth · English

myth · rank #6,269 · 7 variants · 20 confusables

  • FREQ-COMMON #6,269
  • LEN-MID 4 letters
  • VOW-1 1 vowel
  • CONFUS-HIGH 20 pairs
  • VAR-MID 7 variants
  • BOOK-MID 4,057
  • PHOTO-FINISH micro

Nearest frequency peer: micro (-1 rank slots)

Read with this headword: Spelling guide for this pattern

Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.

Frequency neighbourhood for “myth”

Lower corpus rank = more everyday usage (inverted bar length for readability)

corpus weight

What this shows Bars show where “myth” sits against the nearest ranked English headwords in the FrequencyWords band, not a reprint of letter-browse containment.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026

Visual similarity to commonly confused words

How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).

myth vs myths
80% similar
myth vs mythic
67% similar
myth vs mythos
67% similar

Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).

Key facts for myth
PropertyValue
Headwordmyth
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/mɪθ/
Letters4
Frequency rank#6,269
Misspellings tracked7
Confusable pairs20
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Where “myth” sits in English frequency

Word frequency stretches from the small set of words we reach for constantly (left) out to the long tail barely used once in a while (right).mythlands here:

#1#100#1K#10K#100K
← used constantlyrarely used →

The axis is logarithmic, with each marked tick roughly ten times rarer than the last. Same rarity band neighbours include “micro” (#6,268), “Nintendo” (#6,270), “merit” (#6,267). Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 7 spelling variants around myth (IPA /mɪθ/), anoun. Corpus frequency is #6,269 among 4,057 “M” headwords. Wiktionary lists 6 senses, so context still picks the gloss.

Our generated misspelling index lists 7 likely wrong-spelling variants for myth, with forms such as "mmyth", "mtyh", and "myht". Every one of these variants traces to a single-character edit -- an added or dropped letter, a swapped consonant, or a vowel swap -- the kind of slip a spell-checker is built to catch. It also participates in 20 confusable-pair relationships, "myths", "mythic", "mythos", and more, since the words sound or look close enough that writers reach for the wrong one mid-sentence.

Etymologically, the entry records: From Ancient Greek μῦθος (mûthos, “word, humour, companion, speech, account, rumour, fable”). Attested in English since 1830. Doublet of mythos. The correct English form is myth, spelled M-Y-T-H.

Definition

  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.
  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.
  4. 4
    A person or thing held in excessive or quasi-religious awe or admiration based on popular legend
  5. 5
    A person or thing existing only in imagination, or whose actual existence is not verifiable.
  6. 6
    An invented story, theory, or concept.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

These source excerpts show how myth appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.

  1. Jacobsen's theory about the empty storehouse is still valid, for a myth never has one meaning only; a myth is a polyphonic fugue of many voices.
  2. Myth was the product of man's emotion and imagination, acted upon by his surroundings. (E. Clodd, Myths & Dreams (1885), 7, cited after OED)

Etymology

From Ancient Greek μῦθος (mûthos, “word, humour, companion, speech, account, rumour, fable”). Attested in English since 1830. Doublet of mythos.

Antonyms

antimyth

This word in other languages

mito(Español)mythe(Français)Mythos(Deutsch)mito(Português)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • mmyth
  • mtyh
  • myht
  • mythh
  • mytth
  • myyth
  • ymth

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of myth - counted as single-character edits (an insertion, a deletion, or a substituted letter). The larger the bar, the easier the typo is to spot; one-edit slips are the ones that sneak past readers.

mmyth1mtyh2myht2mythh1mytth1myyth1ymth2
Edit distance from "myth"

Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 English corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "myth"?
"myth" is spelled M-Y-T-H. The IPA pronunciation is /mɪθ/.
What does "myth" mean?
As a noun, "myth" means: 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 ...
What words are commonly confused with "myth"?
"myth" is commonly confused with "myths", "mythic", "mythos". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "myth"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "myth" is /mɪθ/. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What is the origin of the word "myth"?
From Ancient Greek μῦθος (mûthos, “word, humour, companion, speech, account, rumour, fable”). Attested in English since 1830. Doublet of mythos. See the full etymology section above for more details.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Similar English words by spelling shape

Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "myth", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 4 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

pale#6,275pets#6,280shaw#6,296toll#6,304

Similar misspelling depth

Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (7 here; floor ≥5).

micro7 variantsmerit7 variantslodge7 variantspoison7 variants

What to do next

You've looked up "myth". Here's where to go from here.

  • "myth" maps to 20 confusable pairs in this vintage; the highest-scored is "myths". View pair
  • 7 edit-distance misspelling variants are generated for spell-check research on this headword. See variants
  • Usage frequency rank #6,269 among English headwords in this corpus. Corpus statistics
  • Browse more English words in the "M" letter cohort. M–Z browse
  • PlainSpell rotates a curated Word of the Day from the English corpus, a passive way to discover vocabulary. Word of the Day

PlainSpell is a reference corpus, not spelling advice. Verify unusual forms in context.

Data Source

Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Word ordering uses an open word-frequency list; misspelling variants are generated by edit-distance from the correct headword.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list