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myth

Definition, pronunciation, etymology, and usage for the English word. Free spelling reference powered by Wiktionary.

Letters

4 characters

Language

English

word origin

Source

Wiktionary

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Detailed reference entry for the English word "myth", 4-letters, with pronunciation in International Phonetic Alphabet notation, etymology traced through Germanic and Romance roots where applicable, common misspelling variants catalogued from Hunspell error dictionaries, and usage frequency ranked against the top 100,000 English words in the Wordfreq corpus. PlainSpell covers English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German spelling with confusable-pair detection that highlights visually and phonetically similar words. This entry for "myth" includes synonyms, antonyms, homophones, and cross-language translation pointers sourced from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org extract. Whether you are verifying the correct spelling of "myth" for academic writing, checking homophone confusion, or exploring etymological origins, this page provides a citation-backed, free reference that requires no sign-up.

myth is aEnglishnoun. It 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 ... Pronounced /mɪθ/. It ranks #6,269 in English word frequency. Often confused with myths and mythic.

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

Frequency rank visualization

Position of myth in English word frequency (lower rank = more common)

Source: Wordfreq corpus

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

The English entry for myth is 4 letters long, classified as anoun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /mɪθ/. Corpus data places it at rank #6,269 in overall English word frequency, indicating it appears regularly in written and spoken text.Wiktionary records 6 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.

Our Hunspell-derived misspelling index lists 7 documented wrong-spelling variants for myth, with forms such as "mmyth", "mtyh", and "myht". Each variant represents a distinct typo pattern that appears often enough in corpora to be worth flagging, typically a doubled-consonant error, a silent-letter drop, or a vowel substitution.It also participates in 20 confusable-pair relationships, "myths", "mythic", "mythos", and more, where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.

Etymologically, the entry records: From Ancient Greek μῦθος (mûthos, “word, humour, companion, speech, account, rumour, fable”). Attested in English since 1830. Doublet of mythos. Root origin matters for spelling because borrowed morphemes (Greek, Latin, Old French, Old English) carry their source-language orthographic conventions into modern English, which is why historical etymology is often the cleanest predictor of whether a cluster like "-ough", "-eau", or "-tion" will appear. For readers arriving here from a spelling check, the authoritative guidance is: the correct English form is myth, spelled M-Y-T-H, and any other sequence of those letters, regardless of how natural it feels, is a misspelling in standard orthography.

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.

Etymology

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

Antonyms

This word in other languages

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as: mmyth,mtyh,myht,mythh,mytth,myyth,ymth

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

Relative frequency of common misspelling types for myth

Misspelling Variants of "myth"

mmyth5mtyh4myht4mythh5mytth5myyth5ymth4
Misspelling Variants of "myth"

Frequency rank: #6,269 in English

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.

Nearby English words

Other entries that begin with the letter M in our English index:

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Data Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Frequency data from Wordfreq. Misspellings derived from Hunspell dictionaries.